Little Russian Doll
by MisstiqueRose
Summary: Russians throwing a dinner party, a waitress with a sense of humor, children with far too much sugar and random dancing. What could possibly go wrong? And in all this madness, will something finally go right for Kai? Rated T for swearing
1. Waitress

**Little Russian Doll**

**A Beyblade Fanfiction**

**Hey there guys! Please don't be too mean, this is my first fanfic! :D I'm sorry if the first chapter seems a little out of place, all will be explained as it goes on. Now Tala, could you be a dear and do the disclaimer for me?**

**Tala: *shrugs* MisstiqueRose does not own Beyblade, she only owns her OC.**

**Rose: Thankyou darling! *waves him off* I apologise for the phonetic Russian, and if I'm not spelling it how you believe it should be spelled please let me know! As you can probably gather, I'm not Russian! Please don't be too mean! There are characters from both Metal Fusion/Masters and the original Beyblade series because I think putting them all together in a dinner party would be hilarious. Especially this dinner party… *evil laugh***

"Talking"

_Thinking_

"_Speaking in Russian"_

"Would you like anything to drink, sir?" Her voice flowed calmly much to her surprise, not betraying a hint of the nervousness she felt. Tyson Granger, the young man in front of her, grinned brightly at her with warm brown eyes. Some of his navy hair fell haphazardly in front of his face and she couldn't quite stifle the small giggle as he tried to blow it out of his eyes which only resulted in more falling down. She felt some of her anxiousness disappearing due to his friendly demeanour, but she knew they would return soon. There was far too much that could go wrong and the implications that would bring…

Shaking her head as if to rid her mind of the thought she focused instead on Tyson and the other customers at the table. Customers. Yes, that was correct. Tonight she was waitressing to help out her friends Tala, Bryan, Spencer and Ian. Her eyes darted over to their table, where she caught Tala's frosted blue gaze. But instead of looking disapproving or uncaring as per usual, he gave her a small inclination of the head. A small smile crossed her face. Despite the wolf's icy attitude towards others, he had really taken a liking to her; just as all the Russians had. Tala made a small motion with his head towards the table she was currently waiting on with the tiniest hint of a smirk on his face. Her eyes flicked suddenly back to Tyson, who after a stern talking to from everyone else present, finally had an answer to her question.

"Sure Kitty! I'll have a Coke please! Max," he turned to the smiling blonde whose warm blue eyes destroyed any hint of nerves that had been flowing through her and left her smiling genuinely for the first time that evening. Max Tate, the single sweetest young man on the planet, and adorable to boot. _Thank goodness for these guys being so nice,_ she thought to herself happily. _Otherwise I never would have made it through the rest of the evening._ "You want something buddy?" Also grinning, Max nodded.

"A Coke for me too please, Kitty!" His voice was sweet and sincere like a bubble bath, reminding her that was exactly what the Russians owed her for helping them out. Max then turned to the Neko-jin next to him who smiled in return. "Kenny, Hilary, Rei, anything?" Rei Kon thought for a moment while playing with his ridiculously long ink-black hair which was tied back in what Tyson had dubbed the "rat tail". Truly that nickname couldn't be more ironic; Rei was the cat not the mouse. After a moment his golden eyes returned to her and he smiled.

"I guess I'll just have the same, thank you. But you two," he growled flatly turning to Max and Tyson, "Have to stop calling her Kitty. She does have a name!" The cheeky smirk that crossed her face didn't go unnoticed as both Tyson and Max sheepishly apologized for the nickname, not before Tyson arguing that was what Tala had called her and so he thought that was her name.

"And what is your name anyway?" A curious Hilary, the only other female at the table, piped up from next to Rei where she had been preoccupied keeping Daichi, the youngest member of the group, happy. Hilary had brunette hair like her, but Hilary's was straight and well-kept where hers was curly and wild. Hilary's ruby eyes scanned her over and she couldn't help feeling like Hilary was testing her. Looking for a finch, a flaw, a soft spot, a weakness. But she also got the sense that rather than strike, Hilary would in turn protect that one weakness. Perhaps it was a foolish hope but hope was something she had always believed was the key to happiness. Grinning brightly with a cheeky glint in her jade eyes she answered.

"My name's Charlotte. But Kitty's fine too."

*Flashback*

"Charlotte huh? That's actually rather… nice…" Tala smirked slightly, tucking a part of her side swept fringe behind her ear. She grinned back at him and he couldn't supress the warmth that surged through him as she did. She had that effect on him, right from the start. It wasn't love in the romantic sense but rather the brotherly sense. Her warm friendly demeanour had done in a matter of days what so many others had tried for years to do and generally failed. She had melted the icy walls around his heart. From the first cheerful grin almost unperturbed by his iciness right to the mournful smile she had worn when she told him of the loneliness that plagued her heart she had almost never stopped smiling. She was optimistic no matter what which in turn had begun to slowly but surely rub off on Tala. Not that he'd ever actually display his newfound warmth to anyone but the other Russians and her of course. And perhaps his girlfriend Julia. Apart from that, no one.

He was snapped out of his revelry by her cuddling him. Her over-affectionate nature had definitely startled all the Russians at first, but they had grown to accept it, in fact, to love it. He wrapped his arms around her before tugging her close and whispering in her ear. "Daragwi(1), I need you do to me a favour." She looked up and focused solely on him, emerald eyes blazing. "You know how we're hosting our banquet as part of the competition right?" She nodded. "Well, I need you to waitress for a bit before we perform." She grinned and opened her mouth about to happily oblige when Tala cut her off. "You'll need to wear a waitress dress as well as your costume." She paused but nodded solemnly. His eyes widened in shock. "You'll do it?"

Nodding she grinned. "Of course Tala, that's what friends are for!"

He couldn't stop the absolute grin that came to his face this time. Friends. He couldn't have put it better himself.

_Present moment_

Spencer smiled as he watched Charlotte happily chatter with the Breakers. Trust her to pick the single strangest group of people in the room and wait on them out of everyone here. But they were friendly and they would definitely look out for her for the rest of the evening. _And if they fail, we'll protect her,_ he smiled to himself. She was his _k__ugolka_(2), his precious girl. Nothing would ever harm her whilst he was there to save her. He knew that Bryan, Tala and Ian all felt the same way and would do anything they could to make her smile. Perhaps he could convince the Breakers to be the same…

"Spencer," Upon hearing his name the blonde Russian's head flicked around to the search for the owner of the voice. He didn't have to look far. Hiro Granger. As Tyson's older brother he bore a startling resemblance to him, the only difference being their height and maturity level; which of both Hiro was higher. The serious expression on his face told Spencer he would actually have to listen for a bit, much to his dismay. He wanted to keep watching over his little doll. Instead he had to listen to Hiro prattle on about the rules of the competition. _She's a big girl; she can take care of herself_. Taking one last furtive glance at her he looked over to Hiro sourly.

"What?" The venom laced in that single word seemed to shake Hiro for a moment before he returned to his usual calm state.

"Who's that girl?" Hiro's question startled him. He'd expected a lecture, not an interrogation.

"Our waitress."

"Does she have a name?" This time Spencer met the eyes of the other Russians before answering. Bryan was pretending he didn't care, but Spencer saw the tiny movements in his hand indicating to him not to screw up because then they would lose their baby girl. Ian was less subtle with wide eyes and a desperate denial motion. 'Don't say anything' Ian begged without a noise ever leaving his lips. Finally he met the eyes of his captain, Tala. Tala's eyes darted to Charlotte, and a small wolfish grin crossed his face. This is where Spencer began to worry. His captain grinning was never a good sign.

It was Tala who finally answered Hiro's question but it definitely wasn't the answer Hiro was expecting. "How about you ask her yourself?" Confusion reflected on Hiro's face, he knew Tala was up to something but he wasn't sure what. Deciding to keep on his guard he agreed. Tala then removed himself from the table and walked over to where she was still taking down orders from Hilary, Daichi and Kenny after resurrecting Kenny from his laptop-induced social coma. Daichi wasn't allowed anything fizzy or sugary much to his annoyance. Tala watched as Charlotte calmly trotted over to Daichi and whispered she'd get him a soft drink, but he had to promise he'd be a good boy or she'd put him over on the "Time Out Table", a table on the other end of the room far away from all other guests. Daichi nodded excitedly and she wrote it down with a cheeky glint in her eyes.

For a moment Hilary thought she was serious about giving him soft drink but Hilary saw she had something else planned and decided it best to trust her. She seemed nice enough, especially for someone working for the Russains. _Speaking of Russians,_ Hilary thought with her eyes flicking cautiously over to Kai Hitawari who had his eyes closed and was slumped against his chair as though he was sleeping, but Hilary knew better. _He just wants to get this performance over and done with so he can leave and people will stop staring at him. _She sighed quietly._ I don't blame him. If I were where he was, I'd do everything I could to get out of here. _

Charlotte seemed to have also noticed Kai's antisocial behaviour, but was treating it with amusement more than anything. She turned to Kai with the brightest smile on her face. "_Would you like anything to drink, or are you going to sit there and sulk all night?"_ That certainly woke him up. His eyes opened suddenly and he looked up amazed at her. Just as she planned. "How…you…Russian?"

"The boys have been teaching me. And since you don't seem to respond to English, I decided to ask you in your native tongue." Kai did not look pleased. She couldn't help but liken him at that moment to a small boy on another table, Yu she believed his name was, who had gotten upset when he found out he wasn't allowed ice cream. He had huffed and pouted, turning his head away and not talking to anyone until Charlotte had gotten him some textas and drawing paper. And boy did she vocalise this.

"You're acting like that little boy over there was," she chuckled nonchalantly pointing to Yu. "He huffed when he couldn't get what he wanted, just like you are now. Maybe I should just give you some textas and paper so you can stop being so grouchy." Needless to say the room fell silent at her joke. Well, except for Tyson, Daichi and Max laughing. Even Rei couldn't stop the giggles. Kenny shrunk into the table and Hilary giggled for a moment before trying to regain her composure. Kai growled but said nothing, embarrassed at being compared to a child by the pretty but incredibly cheeky waitress. She didn't stop there though. "Really? Nothing? At this rate I'm going to have to put you on the Time Out Table for being such a sourpuss." If most of the room weren't laughing then, they were now. She saw the expression of annoyance, but the slight twitch of pain on his face and realised she might have actually hurt his feelings. And so very gently she sashayed over to him and whispered in his ear, once again in Russain. "_I'm sorry, but you really do need to lighten up. Just a little bit? For me?" _He sighed and met her eyes, crimson to jade. Much that he hated to admit it, she had beautiful eyes. Slowly he nodded, sitting up a little from his angry slouch.  
>"<em><span>But I'm no child, kitten. Remember that."<span>_ She laughed a little at his words.  
>"<em><span>Of course."<span>_ She winked cheekily at him. "_And I'm no kitten."_ A ghost of a smile crossed his face and he finally ordered; a Russian drink that she could have Bryan make.

"What have you two been saying? It wasn't about me, was it?" Tyson demanded angrily. Charlotte met Kai's eyes and laughed shaking her head.  
>"Tyson, the world doesn't revolve around you, although if you keep eating the way you do you're going to develop your own gravitational pull." That was Kai, snide and sarcastic as always and had everyone in stiches, especially Charlotte. Daichi looked confused.<br>"I don't get it. What's he mean 'own gravitational pull'?" Charlotte grinned brightly before explaining the physics of the joke to Daichi, who nodded and then grinned.  
>"OH! I get it now! Haha! Kai just called you overweight Tyson!" This made everyone laugh, even Tyson after a bit of consoling.<p>

That was the moment Tala decided to make his presence felt by the Bladebreakers.

Much to the shock of every patron in the room Tala calmly strutted over to her and wrapped one of his arms around Charlotte's waist, the other one he used to tilt her head slightly back so he could whisper something in her ear. It was soft and in Russain, but the Bladebreakers noticed she seemed to understand. He then released her and gave his girlfriend Julia a knowing look to which she nodded and began to calm down her hyperventilating twin brother Raul. _Trust Tala to kill the mood, _Charlotte thought. She then read over the orders of the Bladebreakers once to ensure she'd gotten them right before placing them on top of a light blue tray over on the bar and skipping over to the table with the Russians, Hiro and an old fat white-haired man with glasses named Stanley Dickinson. She couldn't help but liken him to Santa Claus which made her smile. The image of him in a red suit giving out toys to children on Christmas was certainly a powerful albeit hilarious one. Swallowing down her giggles she tried her best to remain professional.

"Hello there, Tala tells me I'm required here. Is there anything you gentlemen would like to order?" Her eyes flicked to Bryan cheekily. "Because he's going to have to make it, I'm not allowed behind the bar." Hiro seemed to regard this news with interest. _Why wouldn't she be allowed behind the bar?_ "These shoes have no grip and the tiles behind the bar are slippery as hell. If I were holding glasses and tripped over I'd be in a lot of trouble." She answered his question before he even vocalised it. Clearly, she was one of them. He looked up at her again, but this time decided to analyse her more closely before asking another question.

She was rather tall, standing at about the same height as Tala, perhaps a little shorter without her heels on but she had a sense of power in her step with broad shoulders and her head held high. She didn't look much younger than Tala who was seventeen, but not too much older than Masamune who was fourteen. She had sun kissed skin, which made Hiro note that she probably wasn't from Russia like the boys but rather somewhere warm. Her curly brunette hair was being held back by a waitress headband which she had to keep readjusting because it was falling down. Her eyes were jade green and full of warmth, the kind you can't help but smile back at. She had a bright cheery grin on her face and it reminded Hiro of a female version of Max. Her "grip-less" shoes were polished black with a slight heel and did up around her ankles with a small clasp shaped like a rose. She had on white socks that came up to above her knees where they tied with small black bows and were lined with an onyx ribbon leaving a small exposed patch of tan skin in between the socks and the dress, which stopped at her mid-thigh. Not that Hiro was looking there, obviously. The dress itself was black and framed her somewhat column-like figure nicely with a slight ruffle on the hem and end of the sleeves which tied up with a bow like on the socks. Her apron was white and tied up at the back with a neat little bow, which Hiro had watched her redo herself after someone tugged it loose. She had on white fingerless gloves that ruffled out at her wrists as well as a few bracelets. A small pendant swung from a ribbon choker around her neck shaped like a little cat's bell and seemed to have something engraved on the back, but Hiro couldn't quite read it.

"Are you done checking me out now? I do have to go and check on everybody else's orders." Her voice had a tinge of annoyance added to its usual cheery tone. Hiro's face was what can only be described as mortification, whilst the Russians were having difficulty not laughing. Hiro could only mumble an apology before letting the young woman off to go do her job when he suddenly remembered why she was over there in the first place.  
>"Wait, what's your name?"<br>"Is that all you wanted to know?" She laughed a little before continuing on. "It's Charlotte." He nodded, deep in thought leaving her to wonder what other interesting twists the night would bring as she skipped off to the next table for their orders.

**Hey there guys! Wow, that was pretty decent for a first chapter don't you think? :D Anyway, here are the translations to the phonetic Russain:**

_(1)Daragwi – _Darling

(2)_Kugolka_ – Little doll

**I'm sorry if this seems so random, but I will explain more in due time. But I never would have guessed Hiro would check out a younger woman! **

**Hiro: *still mortified* Shut up! I was just analysing to get a better understanding of her. **

**Tala: *laughing* Sure you were ;)**

**Rose: Anyway, in the next chapter a bit of insight as to how Charlotte wound up in the Russian care, the "competition" they keep talking about and perhaps some musical theatre! :D So please keep reading! :D :D **


	2. Songbird

**2. Songbird**

**Here I am again, writing more of my wildness down before it leaves me to be replaced with more wildness! Please Review, I like hearing your thoughts!**

**Kai: MistiqueRose does not own Beyblade or any of the songs she mentions, she only owns her OC.**

**Rose: Thanks Kai, and without prompting too! :3 Good boy!**

"Speaking"

_Thinking_

"_Speaking in Russian (or another language)" – written in English_

"_**Phonetic Russian/Chinese pinyin (will be translated at the bottom)"**_

__(I came up with this after reading my last chapter and realising the Russian wasn't identifiable. Sorry if it's confusing ^^'')

**And now on with the story! :D **

"She certainly is something, what I wouldn't give to…" Enrique's voice dropped to a low whisper as he recited all the naughty things he wanted to do to the waitress.  
>"Enrique!" Robert Jurgen scolded the blonde Italian sharply. As a gentleman at heart he was horrified at Enrique's horny-ness as was everyone else at the table. "You cannot talk about a lady like that! It's so uncouth!" After a moment he sighed, running his fingers through his lilac hair. <em>That boy will never learn…<em>leading him onto a long list of all the things wrong with Enrique Giancarlo.

Robert was lost in his thoughts when said waitress came over and since she couldn't get his attention by saying "sir" she decided to go for a less mature but far more effective approach. Leaning over so she was closer to his face, she waved her hand in front of his garnet eyes. The bracelets on her wrists jingled softly as she did so, but it wasn't enough to wake Robert from his thoughts. Sighing she turned to the other three young men at the table.

Johnny McGregor regarded her with an air of contempt, the Scottish red head almost in the same grouchy state as Kai. She sighed internally. _God, why's everyone in such a bad mood tonight?_ Oliver Polanski was smiling shyly at her every now and again in between keeping the last boy, Enrique Giancarlo at bay. The blonde hadn't stopped staring at her since she'd walked in and she was pretty sure whatever was going through his head involved her and wasn't pretty.

It was Enrique who spoke first, unsurprisingly. The Russians had given her profiles of all the guests this evening, and he was one they'd said to watch out for.

*Flashback*

"He's a womanizer _**ptieshka(1**_)!" Ian had exclaimed upon her reading out the name on top of the file. "He'll just come after you because you're female and within his range!"  
>"Oh wow thanks Ian, I feel so loved." Her sarcasm wasn't lost on Ian.<br>"No, I didn't mean it like that; I just mean he's a bit… man-whore-ish…Don't worry, we think you're beautiful." His hands waved around as he tried to explain what Enrique was, without actually explaining what Enrique was. None the less she smiled at the compliment and continued to read the file occasionally asking Ian questions about something contained within. Bryan was getting himself a drink from the kitchen and walked back in downing a cup of apple juice, his favourite drink next to vodka. Upon hearing the Italian's name the glass in Bryan's hand was history.  
>"If he comes too close to you, just call out and I'll rip his…" After a long string of cursing in Russian that sounded something like 'ripping off his private parts and shoving them up his arse' Bryan calmed down and looked solemnly at her. "Kid, promise us that you won't go near that," more swearing in Russian "unless it's absolutely necessary. He's dangerous, and we don't want you hurt. Got it?" She smiled at Bryan and nodded understandingly.<p>

Bryan, although tough by nature, had developed a soft spot for her and treated her as if she were his sister. If he had the last biscuit or sweet he'd share with her begrudgingly and was always happy to dance with her when she randomly danced around to whatever happened to be on the radio. He had even taken to giving her cute little nicknames. They were often childish and condescending in a family-like way, names like 'kid,' babydoll' and 'little one'. No one could really explain Bryan's adoration of her, but it definitely encouraged him to be a better person and that for her was good enough. So in return when he asked her something serious like this she would do it to make him proud.  
>"I gotcha Bryan, don't worry." She grinned as an idea came to her. "But, if I do have to go near him, could somebody play Womanizer by Britney Spears through the speakers so I can point at him and lip sync?" Bryan and Ian met each other's eyes and they'd all started to laugh. "But seriously, can I?"<p> 

_*Present moment*_

"So bella, I haven't seen you around, because I'm sure I would remember seeing a face that beautiful." She rolled her eyes and ignored the comment trying to asking Johnny McGregor what he wanted. Unfortunately Enrique wasn't going down that easy. "Oh darling, don't bother with him, he's not handsome enough to be worth your time. Me on the other hand," he chuckled to himself but she still paid him no heed, which she noticed was scoring her major points with Johnny. _The longer I keep ignoring the sleazebag, the more of a chance I'll get an answer out of the Scotsman! _She grinned brightly and tried once again to ask Johnny what he wanted to which he was about to reply when Enrique fired another shot. "Come on pretty, it's part of the job description, you have to speak to me at some point or another. Plus that outfit's not exactly telling me no, is it now?" She didn't even have to bother replying to that one.  
>"Leave her alone for God's sake Enrique! The poor lass has been tryin' to get my order for the past five minutes but you keep cuttin' her or me off! She doesn't want you alright! Just accept it!" The angry yell of the Scotsman was more than enough to startle Robert back into reality. Oliver then quietly filled him in on the situation whilst Enrique and Johnny got into a full-scale argument. The waitress in question backed away slowly deciding there wasn't much else she could do, leaving a small note for Oliver and Robert which simply said:<p>

_I'll leave you boys to sort out your problems,  
>As soon as you all seem to have calmed down, I'll come back<br>Cheers,  
>Charlotte (the waitress) xx<em>

__

The next table was alive with more angry yells this time in Chinese as two young men argued about the roses on every table, and how they were white at the core but the tips were almost dyed different colours which varied from table to table. One of the boys, the older one with jet black hair and fangs, Lee Wong, snarled angrily that it was some kind of magic and he wanted to tear them apart. The younger looking boy with green hair and smaller fangs, Kevin Chang, was telling him not to touch it because if he was right and it was magical then touching it would kill him.

Charlotte, although having learned Chinese for quite some time, still found herself lost by their conversation. She attempted to interject in Chinese, but her Chinese, like her Russian although pronounced generally well was slow and thick as her tongue stumbled over the foreign sounds. Mariah Wong, the only female at the table, could see Charlotte was having a hard time keeping up and her question of "What would you like to drink?" fell on deaf ears. Tucking some of her pink hair behind her ear she turned to Charlotte.  
>"I'm sorry about my brother, he's a bit…" she waved her hand in the air as if unsure of how to finish the sentence. Relieved she didn't have to try and speak Chinese, Charlotte grinned cheerily.<br>"It's fine. They're actually pretty interesting to listen to. Can you tell me why they keep pointing at the rose though?" Mariah grinned as she translated her brother's fear and Kevin's uncertainty, almost as if mocking them for being so silly. Charlotte burst out laughing when she realised they didn't understand the science behind the rose causing every person at the table to stop and look at her strangely. After a moment of regathering her composure, she turned to Lee.

"The rose looks like that because the water is tinted with red food dye. Since the rose is absorbing the dyed water, it shows up on the petals. Cool huh? I came up with the idea to help me remember where my orders go." Lee looked even more confused and so she continued on. "See how on every table the white roses are tinted different colours? On the bar there are trays matching the colour of the roses, all I have to do to remember which table the order goes to is remember the colour of the rose on the table." You could almost see the understanding dawn on Lee's face.  
>"That's actually really clever. I like it!" He reached out to touch the white rose tinted with red and smiled. Nothing happened to him, much to Kevin's surprise. There were two roses in the little jar, so he took one out and motioned to his sister. Gently he tucked it behind his sister's ear and smiled brightly. "There you are, <em><strong>hen piao liang(2)<strong>_."  
>"Aww, that's so cute!" Charlotte cooed placing her hands over her chest. "Now that that's solved, would you guys like anything to drink?" The Neko-jins now all calm gave her requests with the funniest coming from Gary Tan, a gentle giant who ordered more drinks than everyone combined. Lee wasn't sure the poor girl would be able to hold everything Gary ordered and so offered to help her carry it over when she did bring back their drinks. Charlotte was touched by his concern and decided she liked these guys as well as the Breakers.<p>

It was Mariah who finally voiced the question everyone had been dying to know. "How did someone as nice as you wind up hanging around the Blitzkriegs?" The room fell silent and Charlotte felt all eyes on her, anxious for her answer. So she decided to have a bit of fun with it while she could. Placing her notepad back into the pocket of her apron, she turned around to the rest of the tables and threw her arms in the air.  
>"Listen up kiddies, because I'm only going to tell this story once! If you can't hear me come closer, you're welcome to sit on the ground. Don't worry about it being unclean; I'm pretty sure Spencer and Bryan have mopped it so many times you could eat off it." This received a few small chuckles as quite a few people relocated so they could hear her voice. "Everybody seated? Good, now ladies, gentlemen, children, Enrique," she paused and smirked a little making her a mirror image of Tala if only for a moment. "Let's hear the marvellous tale of how I found my way to the Blitzkriegs, shall we? It was raining the day we met…"<p> 

_*Flashback (from Charlotte's P.O.V)*_

Just my luck, it's raining. Of course it just had to rain the day I'm stuck in completely uncovered areas. Stupid so-called friends, leaving me in the middle of somewhere I'd never been before without any indication of where they're going. Trust them to forget me. They always do. Well there wasn't much I could do about it, so I pulled off my purple headphones which I'd been using to block out the pain of being lost and ran for the cover of a tree nearby. I know you're not supposed to stand under trees during a storm but it wasn't like I had a choice, it was the tree or get soaked. And I hate getting wet like this with a passion. I sighed and tried to put everything valuable, my wallet, phone and iPod in the bag so they wouldn't be drenched and rendered unusable.

I almost didn't realise there was someone standing next to me, holding their umbrella above my head. Turning my head slowly to face my rain shield, I was confronted with a tough looking young man, probably about eighteen or nineteen, with blonde hair and granite eyes giving me a small smile. He was way taller than I was, with a really strong build that made him appear big and frightening but I got the sense he wasn't here to hurt me, or at least I hoped he wasn't. "Where're you headed kid? Because wherever it is you aren't going to make it dry." His voice was quiet and deep but had a lilt of amusement hidden within and an accent I couldn't quite place. Despite the joking nature of the comment it didn't feel like he was teasing me. I smiled back at him but I couldn't supress the ache in my voice.  
>"I don't know… my friends left me behind and now I'm lost. I don't even know where I am anymore…" A tear rolled down my face. <em>Darn it Charlotte, don't cry! At least try and be strong in front of the stranger! <em>I felt a warm hand rubbing my back gently and looked over to him and although his face showed little emotion, his eyes were full of sympathy. I chuckled a little and wiped the tears from my eyes. "I'm sorry, for being so emotional. I'm just really worried, my mum said I could make my own way home because I'd have my friends with me but they've all ditched me and," Another tear rolled down my face and my voice cracked. "I don't even think they realise. They've all probably forgotten about me." His eyes widened a little and he wrapped a powerful arm around me gently tugging me into him in what I guess was supposed to be a hug. Leaning my head into his chest I finally let off a quiet sob, him still gently rubbing my back. He took my shoulders in his hands, discarding the umbrella beside him and looked me in the eyes. I saw a kind of determination then and I knew, or at least I hoped, he was going to help me out and not leave me stuck here in the rain.

"C'mon kid. Let's get you cleaned up." It was a command, not a request. He took my hand and I noticed how delicate my hands looked in comparison to his. Grabbing the umbrella we walked, I wasn't sure where but at this point in time I wasn't exactly going to question someone who was helping me. He seemed to read my mind, gently squeezing my hand. "Don't worry darling, I promise I won't hurt you. We're going back to my house so you can get dry and call your mum and stuff…" he trailed off quietly. I turned to him and smiled.  
>"My name's Charlotte by the way, and thank you."<br>He smiled honestly for the first time. "Spencer and you're welcome."

Other than the quiet patter of rain on the umbrella there was no noise as we walked. Now I'm not usually one for silence, probably because I'm so not used to it, so I began to speak. Most of it was the mindless babble that fills my head, stuff I notice, facts I keep, words that I like. He didn't seem to mind though. He would laugh at my jokes, listen to my observations and he even told me a couple things about himself. He was in a band with a few of his closest friends and he and his band mates lived together in a flat, which was where we were going. He was from Russia originally, which explained the accent, and he was here because of a competition his band was a part of. His favourite colour was indigo and he loved chocolate. This I laughed at because I too have a massive sweet tooth. We discovered we liked a lot of the same music and novels. I even sang for him a little bit, something that summed up how I felt being ditched.

_Probably no one will even notice,  
>Even if I were to disappear,<br>The colours of the lights are just too beautiful_

_Because no one is looking at me,_  
><em>I could do whatever I please, right?<em>  
><em>At a corner of this hollowly gentle town<em>

He did something that scared me after I finished. He sung the next part of the song, and his deep voice filled with…compassion?

_I will never forget it,  
>even if you were to disappear,<br>your voice still echoes now_

_Even if no one is listening_  
><em>I will sing only to you,<em>  
><em>right from the top of this tall standing tower.<em>

We sang the rest of the song in chorus, me singing the melody and him singing a harmony line. It sounded really cool, and it's something I still sing with him often. It's also how my bird related nicknames sprung up. We sang other songs as well on that long walk back, the last of which was the funniest rendition of Be Prepared from the Lion King I have ever heard. We were laughing so hard by the time we'd gotten to his front door it took him nearly five minutes to put the keys in the door before he could do it without cracking up laughing all over again. He opened the door and gestured grandly into his home, any shyness or lack of emotion conquered through the power of song. Grinning I took his hand and entered, thus beginning my new friendship with the Blitzkrieg Boys of Russia.

_Present moment (Third Person P.O.V)_

Charlotte grinned as she looked around the room seeing the smiles on people's faces at such a nice tale. She noticed a young woman with red hair and glasses, Emily York, seemed deep in concentration. "Something up?" Emily answered in a clear calm voice, with a hint of an American accent and people seemed to share her opinion as they nodded when she spoke.  
>"What about those friends of yours? Didn't they care? And didn't you say something about your mom only letting you come home with your friends?" The smile faded for a moment from Charlotte's face as she recollected what else had happened that day.<br>"Once I dried off a little I called my mum and told her what happened to me. Of course she was rather worried when I told her about following Spencer home, but I put her on to Spencer and whatever he said to my mum made her really like him and so she let me stay with him and have him drop me off." She sighed gently. "And as for my friends, they didn't actually try and find me for another four hours after I went back with Spencer. By that time it was about six o'clock and they were only worried about me because they'd remembered they needed to actually escort me home. My best friend called me which was how I knew they were looking for me but she didn't sound worried. She was annoyed at me for wandering off and making them all go to the effort of tracking me down."

It was Lee who jumped up enraged, followed closely by Johnny, Rei, Max, Tyson and the Russians. "How dare they? They forgot about you, left you behind and then have the nerve to dare be mad at you for being lost! Those…" he began to rant angrily in Chinese and Mariah covered her mouth in shock giving everyone the impression he was probably swearing. The entire room nodded with Rei adding,  
>"I agree, no man," he looked at her and grinned. "Or woman left behind."<br>Max grinned and awkwardly stepped his way through the crowd of sitting down people with quite a few apologies before getting finally to her and giving her a hug. She grinned and hugged him back and as they stood there quite a few people were left wondering if they were related due to the incredible likeness in their grins.  
>"Thanks guys. Now, on a completely unrelated note, place your hand up if I haven't come to your table!" A sea of hands rose from the ground and she laughed. "Well get back to your seats because I'm not serving a sea of people on the ground. I'm not Jesus!" People laughed happily as they returned to their seats with Charlotte simply skipping over to the next table not showing a hint of the sadness she was feeling before. But Max knew better than anyone that behind the smile there was still pain after all, that was his tactic too.<p>

Stanley Dickinson watched the smiling waitress chat and take orders as though nothing had ever happened, but he knew that now everyone in the room had a deeper understanding of her. Even he did, and he knew she would benefit the Russians amazingly in whatever they had planned for tonight's dinner as their performance for this round of the competition. What competition, you might ask? Why, just the Battle of the Bands Association (BBA) competition bringing together bands from all over the world to perform in a TV aired competition that tests musical ability, choreography, and the ability to work in a team; despite the people in it. The Blitzkriegs of Russia had always held their cards close to their chest, and now this girl, whoever she was, seemed to hold a vital part in their master plot for tonight's interesting proceedings. Sighing, the old man wiped his glasses and then his brow with his handkerchief. _Well whatever it is their planning, I certainly hope their risks pay off…_

**Ooh strange! :D For those of you who know what it's like being forgotten you'll understand where Charlotte's coming from. I gave a bit more insight into the Russian's relationships with Charlotte show a softer side to the Blitzkriegs, because we all know they're plush toys under all that ice! =3**

**Bryan: Hey! I don't like being compared to a stuffed animal! *pouty***

**Rose: *cuddles him* But you are! You're so cuddly! :3 **

**Bryan: Hn… *cuddles back unwillingly* **

**And I'm sorry if it feels a little jumpy. I'm still working on that… ^^'' As for the random dance numbers, just wait, there's going to be quite a few of those as this goes on. **

**Now for the translations:**

**(1). **_**Ptieshka – Birdy ~ Russian~**_

**(2). **_**Hen piao liang – very beautiful. ~Chinese~**_

**SO PLEASE REVIEW :D :D :D More than anything I wanna hear your thoughts! PLEASE! I GIVE YOU SOME OF SPENCER'S SECRET COOKIE STASH! :D**

**Spencer: HEY!**

**Oh and by the way, the song Charlotte and Spencer sing is the English translation of Tower by Megurine Luka :D :D Great song! And there'll be more singing, dancing and just plain randomness in the next chapter! There might even be cameos! :D :D :D :D **


	3. Darling

3. Darling

**Hey again! More than anything I want to read your thoughts! PLEASE REVIEW! I feel like I'm just writing this for myself at the moment… Thank you to those who have added me to their favourites list and added this story to alerts, I feel so flattered you want to read my insanity!**

**Anyway, here's the latest chapter featuring a cameo from… YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO READ TO FIND OUT! *evil laugh***

**Spencer: *sweatdrop* **

**Rose: *spots Spencer* Spencer! *bats eyelids* Can you please do the disclaimer for me? *puppy dog pout* Please?**

**Spencer: *sigh of relief smiling* Of course little one. *pats her head* MisstiqueRose does not own Beyblade, she only owns her OC. **

**Rose: *grins and says child-like* Thank-you Spencer ^_^**

"Speaking"

_Thinking_

"_Speaking in Russian (or another language)" – written in English_

"_**Phonetic Russian/Chinese pinyin (will be translated at the bottom)"**_

**NOW ON WITH THE STORY!**

Eddy Wheeler sighed quietly to himself as his team joked around him. This time it was about Michael Parker and the baseballer was not taking it well, but Eddy wasn't really paying attention. He was too wrapped up in his own thoughts, or more importantly, his grief. Michael said something that made the rest of the team laugh, but Eddy just ignored him and played absently with a small dog tag. On it was engraved the words "Lisa and Eddy" and half a heart. The other half belonged to her, or at least it used to. Last week she had decided to throw it all away, the dog tag, his letters to her and most painful of all his heart; giving him up for some flashy new boy-toy. He sighed again and fingered the engraving on the dog tag; eyes filled with hurt.

"Eddy, man, you okay? You've been quiet all night." Michael's concerned voice jolted him out of his thoughts but he couldn't bring himself to tell them what had happened. _Real men don't show their feelings, right?_ Forcing a smile, just as the waitress had done when she told them about her friends, he nodded.

"Just a little jetlag man, it's fine." They had flown here all the way from America and most of them were still suffering from some form of jetlag. Only Emily seemed totally unaffected, which made the rest of the team wonder whether she was human or not. Michael accepted his answer, but Eddy could see he didn't believe it. Despite his aloof nature, Michael had a knack for picking up his friend's troubles even if they didn't want to share them.

Unfortunately Eddy's smile wasn't as convincing as the waitress'. "Eddy, you a'ight?"  
>"Something up man?<br>"You don't seem all that well, are you sick?" Their barrage of questions normally would have been laughed off, but now they just annoyed him. Deep down though, there was a part of him touched by their concern. Not that he'd ever say that out loud_. Real men don't display affection…do they?_  
>"Guys leave him alone, if he doesn't want to tell us, then he doesn't have to. 'Kay?" <em>Thank God for Michael,<em> Eddy thought, otherwise he would have lashed out at his friends a long time ago. But he would never thank him out loud.  
>"Real men don't show gratitude. Correct, Eddy Wheeler?" The relaxed yet slightly amused voice of the waitress disrupted their conversation much to the irritation of Rick. Eddy though was wondering how she'd known exactly what he was thinking. <em>Is she some kind of psychic? Or does it have something to do with those Russians? They're always one step ahead of everyone…<em>  
>"Who asked you? Our problem, our business." Rick growled from his overconfident lean in his chair; his posture seemed to say 'I'll do what I want when I want and you can't do anything about it.' She pretended to look hurt for a moment before giving Rick a withering stare so icy Eddy could have sworn Rick would freeze solid then and there. Emily quietly noted that she would have to get the waitress to teach her how to counter Rick like that as it was a skill she had yet to master.<br>"It's not YOUR problem is it, Rick? It's Eddy's problem, and so if he wants me to leave, I will. But if not, I'm staying, whether you like it or not." The last few words she growled in a don't-mess-with-me-bitch voice that certainly shut Rick up, causing him to go into an angry pout like Kai and Johnny. This time though, she didn't really care as she turned to Eddy with a sweetly sad smile on her face. "What's bugging you Eddy?" Feeling all eyes revert back to him, he sighed.  
>"Well, I guess I better start from the beginning."<p>

_*Flashback*_

Eddy laughed as he dunked the winning basket for the game. "SCORE! I win Parker again, cough up!" Michael disgruntledly handed over the cash he'd promised Eddy before turning away to sulk. Eddy did a couple of victory laps, he wasn't one to boast but he loved winning money off Michael, especially doing something he loved like basketball or playing the bass. He shot a couple more impressive hoops; behind the back, from way up court, and so on before he heard someone clapping for him. Pivoting around a couple of times to work out where the sound was coming from; after all he and Michael were on an open court near the street it could be from anywhere. He stopped cold when his eyes flicked to the empty bleachers. Or at least, they were usually empty. Sitting calmly about three rows back was a pretty caramel brunette who smiled at him and clapped excitedly.  
>"Do more, you're amazing!" He blushed and almost dropped the ball. His own best friends barely complimented him, let alone pretty girls. He tried to speak, but he the best he could muster was a mumble that sounded something like "It was nothing…"<p>

If Michael hadn't been a wonderful person, he would have burst out laughing at the sight of the black, tough basketballer Eddy barely able to string three words together in front of the cute girl. _But since I am such an amazing friend, _he puffed out his chest, _and a master of the dating arts, I will wingman for my fellow comrade. _"Why hello there," he began brightly and she turned to him with a hint of contempt on her face whilst Eddy glared daggers at him. Needless to say, he wasn't exactly a favourite person right then. Despite this he continued on being the brave albeit slightly overconfident soul he was. "I'm Michael." And here's where the ultimate wingman-ing came to play. "Have you meet Eddy?" He smirked as the cute girl turned to Eddy, smiling.  
>"I don't believe I have. I'm Lisa." Eddy was finally able to genuinely smile.<br>"Eddy. Lisa's a pretty name." Michael grinned proudly as he walked away completely unnoticed by the two. _My work here is done._

_*Time-skip* - About a month later – _

"Have you ever seen such a funny movie? I swear I have never laughed so hard in my life!" Lisa turned to Eddy, brown eyes sparkling. He grinned and nodded. He'd never been happier and it was all thanks to her. She was the perfect girlfriend; sweet, caring, intelligent, funny, gorgeous, amazing. He could go on for hours, but his friends usually shut him up after about a minute. But he didn't mind; being in love did that to him. Suddenly nothing in the whole world could bother him anymore; Emily called it seeing through "rose coloured glasses". _Guess that's a side effect of finding someone special. _

He laughed with her for a while but inside a small pit of fear opened up in his stomach. Today he had planned to tell her how he felt and he was freaking out. This was huge for him as he didn't admit his feelings very often; but he was terrified something would go wrong. Words definitely were not his strong point. Drawing up every reserve of courage he had, _c'mon be a man, _he drew in a deep breath and turned to her. "Lisa?" Her doe-like brown eyes turned to him and he felt his heart leap to his throat.  
>"Yes, Eddy?" Shuffling uncomfortably, he stuttered out a muffled murmur of affection that sounded something like "I think I love you." Startled but only internally by this, she leaned in closer to make sure she misheard.<br>"What was that?"  
>"I…think that…I…guess…It…It's just…I… think I'm…" A shaky breath echoed around the street and it was the only thing Lisa was listening to, or at least, it looked that way. In truth, she was getting bored with his affections, he was sweet but he was too shy for her liking. It took a great deal of work to get out what he wanted to say which annoyed her as she was used to getting her way immediately. In truth his shyness was because he liked her so much that he was petrified of screwing up. Finally he found his voice and she was stunned with the results. "…Lisa, I think I'm in love with you…" Forcing a smile she kissed his nose and lied through her teeth.<br>"I love you too Eddy."

_*Present Moment*_

The pain in Eddy's eyes was unbearable; he couldn't even bring himself to finish his story. Michael thankfully finished off for him. "She strung him along for weeks, all while seeing this other douche just because she liked having Eddy around like a lapdog. When she finally admitted she didn't love him it had been nearly six months." Michael muttered obscenities under his breath and was soon joined by Rick and Steve much to the disgust of Emily although secretly she totally agreed with every curse, all while Charlotte the waitress stood there absorbing all this information. It was a while before she spoke again and the confusion was evident on her face until she finally turned to Eddy, jade eyes blazing.

"…That selfish **_**_souka(1)_**_** didn't deserve you Eddy. If that's how she thinks you're supposed to treat people then karma is going to…" The Russian stream of curses didn't go unheard by the Blitzkriegs, but they just quietly laughed it off deciding to leave her to sort it out. Eddy looked up at her and he couldn't help but feel better. Even the waitress thought what Lisa did was horrible and she'd never even met her before. _But I can't help that I loved her, _he sighed to himself. Turning to the waitress since she had listened to his whole story so well, he decided to ask her the question that had been niggling in his heart since he'd lost Lisa.

"Charlotte, what is love?" She thought about it for a moment, before a small sparkle appeared in her eyes. Her face solemn, she met Eddy's gaze and he could see she'd had some kind of idea.  
>"Baby don't hurt me!" She hollered out theatrically like the drama queen she was. Eddy almost died of shock; he knew the song she got that from! It was an old favourite of his, but he couldn't sing along in public... could he? <em>Not like there's anything to lose, because no one ever said anything about real men singing karaoke!<em>  
>"Don't hurt me!" Eddy sang back almost as dramatically. She grinned when she realised he knew what she was doing, and when she held her hand out to him he took it with a smile.<br>"No more!" They chorused nearly laughing and she met his eyes for the belt-out. Punching the air they yelled out together.  
>"NO MORE!" The familiar melody of Haddaway's <em>What is Love? (Baby Don't Hurt Me)<em> began to play over the loudspeaker courtesy of Ian and Charlotte caught a microphone and handed it to Eddy. Eddy grinned whilst Charlotte ran and grabbed the Russians out to dance with her. Bryan jumped the bar where he had been preparing some of the orders and happily twirled her round; Spencer excused himself politely much to Hiro's amusement before running over to join them and Tala basically just dropped what he was doing and rushed over. Ian was in control of the loudspeakers so he couldn't join them but he danced where he was; a small balcony situated above the bar.

As Eddy watched the Russians throw away all signs of manliness and dance to their heart's content he had a small epiphany. _What's the point of being a real man if you can't have any fun?_ Clutching the mike in his hands he jumped on his table much to the shock of everyone at it and sang the verse, no longer caring whether he appeared manly or not.

__Oh, I don't know why you're not there  
>I give you my love, but you don't care<br>So what is right and what is wrong  
>Gimme a sign<em>_

Grinning Charlotte and Spencer hi-fived, just a little one before going back to dancing with everyone else who had gotten up to join in. Eddy was so into the dance that he didn't even hear his phone go off from his seat. He didn't even see the screen light up with her name, and for the first time in months he didn't care if it was her.

_Our work here is done. _

_*Time Skip* - End of the song - _

The regular piano interlude returned and everyone returned to their seats still laughing and chatting happily. The Russians reverted to their stations as had Charlotte who was giving the Breakers their drinks when a loud clap echoed all throughout the room. Everyone searched for the perpetrator who remained unfound until Kenny pointed, clearly so petrified he was unable to do anything else. All eyes slowly turned to a group of people at the doorway, one of whom was responsible for the clap. They stepped forward into the light not that it did them much good; a shaggy looking dog-man, a mummy-like creature, what appeared to be a zombie-Frankenstein and a creepy looking guy in a black cape. A dead silence choked the air until Kenny let off a long-overdue and incredibly feminine scream.

Tala strolled over as if he wasn't scared in the slightest. He'd seen spookier children's book characters; they would have to do better to frighten him. The rest of the Russians seemed to share this relaxed attitude, except for Ian who was so thankful he was still up on the balcony away from those…  
>"Monsters, what do you want?" Tala's voice shattered the silence allowing everyone a small sigh of relief. The black-clad man stepped forward to answer and Charlotte took the opportunity to speak.<br>"Tyson," she whispered under her breath and the navy haired teen stopped staring at the monsters and snuck a furtive glance at her to indicate he was listening. "Who are those guys? And why is Kenny scared stiff of them?" Tyson didn't even get a chance to answer her question though because the moment he opened his mouth, a spooky voice cut him off.  
>"Oh my, gentlemen, it seems we've been quite rude. We've forgotten to introduce ourselves to the lady." In a flash the black-clad man was beside her with a creepy smile on his ghostly pale face. The others soon followed surrounding her as she took a couple of precautionary steps back. No escape, and suddenly the Russians' calm had turned to alert as they could only watch these monsters circle their darling girl.<p>

"Pleasure to meet you, milady. I am Sanguinex, leader of the Darkness." She visibly shuddered as he kissed her hand. He felt so cold, every time he touched her it was as if she was slowly freezing from the inside out. "To my right we have my little brother, Lupinex." Lupinex nodded, walking over and sniffing her right next to her neck whispering about how delicious she smelt. He almost licked her too but a sharp noise from Sanguinex made him stop cold mere inches from her face. Now clearly frightened she took two more steps back into a mountain of a monster. "And behind you is Zomb. Zomb say hello to the lady." She spun around to be confronted with a walking Frankenstein who smiled cheerily at her and waved. She managed a weak smile and wave back at him before taking a couple more steps back into the middle of their ever-shrinking circle. "And finally there's Cenotaph. We are delighted to be at your service." Barely acknowledging Sanguinex she turned to face an Egyptian mummy with glowing red eyes.

Was she scared? Ridiculously so. Was she going to let that stop her? Not a chance!

Turning to Sanguinex and mustering up courage from reserves she didn't know she had she finally blurted out what had been bothering her, aside from the obvious 'I'm surrounded by monsters'. "So, if he's Frankenstein," she exclaimed motioning to Zomb and then smiling as he beamed goofily unaware of the world. "And he's an Egyptian mummy," this time she motioned to Cenotaph with a wave of her hand who nodded silently. "And he's, I think a werewolf… right?" Lupinex nodded with a wolfish grin when she pointed to him. "Then what does that make you?" Finally returning her focus to where Sanguinex used to be standing she looked around confused for a moment before he re-appeared in front of her with a graceful wave of the cape. He took her hand again bringing it to his lips as he bowed low with a haunting smile on his face.  
>"I, my dear, am a vampire." She nodded and quickly pulled her hand to her chest as soon as he let go, shivering slightly.<p>

"Are you a real vampire or an Edward-Cullen-sissy-sparkling-fairy-not-even-close-to-a-vampire?" He sighed as if he'd heard all the jokes before, giving him a somewhat humane appearance for the first time that evening. Just as quickly as his human side had appeared it vanished and was replaced with a devilish grin even more terrifying than the creepy one he had on to begin with.  
>"That Stephanie Meyer has tarnished the good name of vampires everywhere with that horrible series of hers." He paused and turned to her still smiling. "What did you call that Edward fellow? A 'sissy sparkling fairy not even close to a real vampire'? Oh my, that's hilarious; I'll have to use that." He laughed suddenly, and everyone in the room shuddered as chills washed down their spines like tidal waves. Their eyes met, and the sheer darkness held within his eyes hypnotised her. She tried to run, but her feet felt rooted to the ground. Her body slowly seemed to freeze and she found herself barely able to breathe. Eyes wide in terror, she tried to speak but nothing came out. Like this she was powerless to stop whatever he planned to do to her. The panic set in as he closed the gap between them with hungry intent in his eyes. "But do not fret, my darling, for I am a true vampire." He smirked and caressed her cheek lovingly as he leaned closer and closer to her lovely neck. He could almost taste the delicious jugular blood and the thought made him lick his lips. Her heartbeat increased as she grew more and more frightened which only made him hunger for her more. Closer and closer until…<br>"Isn't that a reason for her to panic more? If I were in her shoes I'd so be freaking out right now!" It was Gingka Hagane, a confident redhead, who finally piped up from the other end of the room breaking the spell Sanguinex had woven over Charlotte.

As soon as she realised she could move she did the only sane thing she could think of. She smashed his face in with the tray she was still holding from the Breaker's table. The expression of shock on the monsters' faces was only rivalled by that on Sanguinex himself who nearly fell over holding a hand to his face. Nobody said anything, and a dead silence hung in the air for a moment. Until Tala, being the slightly insane not-afraid-of-anything Russian he is, burst out laughing. Ian and Bryan too began to laugh with Mariah and the White Tigers giving her a cheer for being so daring.

Charlotte's legs gave way though and she hit the floor visibly shaking unable to let off any kind of noise at all. Zomb lumbered up to her and stroked her hair gently. "I'm sorry about Sanguinex; he's never this hungry normally." His voice could only be described as low, slow and thick as he gently helped Charlotte up and coaxed her over to Hilary's chair, which Hilary happily gave up for the traumatized waitress.

"Breathe in, and out. Sanguinex usually won't go after someone who fights back, so you should be safe. Relax now, it's okay, Zomb's got you." Rubbing her back gently, Zomb coaxed her for another five minutes while her mind slowly pieced together what had happened. After deep breathing for a moment she let off a scream that could wake the dead before returning to deep breathing. Zomb smiled gently. She would be alright now, screaming was a good sign. If she had done nothing then he would have reason to worry.

Handing her over to Rei, Spencer who had run over desperately once she'd sat down, and the rest of the Breakers Zomb turned to Sanguinex, and he did not look pleased. "Sanguinex, you should be ashamed of yourself! She was only trying to work out who we were, and you nearly ate her alive! You're the one who's always telling us to be polite to new people but look at what you've done! Apologize, now!" Cenotaph nodded and spoke for the first time.  
>"He's right Sanguinex; it wasn't like she was alone in a forest begging to be eaten. You do owe her an apology." Lupinex tried to think of a way to stand up for his big brother, but he too just nodded silently.<br>"We all need to say we're sorry, we were scaring her for our own amusement. That's not right." Zomb continued. Turning to her he smiled mournfully, "I'm sorry I frightened you, I truly didn't mean to."

Lupinex walked over to her chair, sat down beside it like a dog and looked up at her. "I'm sorry pretty girl. I did not mean to scare you. You smell delicious to my brother," He paused for a moment and blushed. "You're very pretty as well. That's why he wanted to eat you. Brother likes beautiful women. He says they taste nicer." He nuzzled the hand that wasn't holding her head up and whimpered. "Sorry for being scary." Her eyes flicked to him, and she began to genuinely smile.  
>"That's okay. It's nice of you to say you're sorry. And thank you for calling me pretty. It almost makes up for nearly being vampire-chow. By the way, I'm Charlotte." Laughing she began to pat him like a dog and he began to kick his leg as dogs do which only made her laugh more.<p>

"I too apologize, it's not right to scare humans just because it's funny. I must commend your bravery though Miss Charlotte, you did not scream once even before Sanguinex hypnotised you." Cenotaph smiled and offered her a glass of water he had received from a sick-with-worry Bryan. Gratefully drinking the entire glass in a matter of minutes, she smiled at the monsters until Zomb patted her lightly on the shoulder and indicated to a very sheepish Sanguinex.

"I apologize, my angel, for trying to feast upon your delicious blood," he licked his lips but stopped after a vicious glare from the remaining monsters. "You just smelled too amazing to resist and are too beautiful to ignore. I couldn't help myself." Again, more glaring only this time from everyone in the room, combined with a low growl from Lupinex. Enrique tried to make some kind of womanizing crack but Johnny whacked him over the back of the head before it even came out his mouth. "But," Sanguinex exclaimed drawing in a deep breath. "I am sorry. I never should have attempted to eat you no matter how attractive you may look, smell and taste. Can you ever forgive me? You don't have to come near me for the rest of the evening if it pleases you." After thinking about it for a moment, she smiled.

"I accept your apology Sanguinex. Though I am curious about one thing…" She stood up, Spencer offering to help her but she politely waved him off with a cuddle. She walked over to Sanguinex tentatively but with each step she grew calmer, regaining lost confidence. Sanguinex's eyes widened as she stood barely a metre from him and her scent filled his nostrils almost making him drool. "You said you were a true vampire, correct?" He nodded, deciding it wiser to not speak for the moment. "So that means you have the weaknesses of a real vampire. Right?" He continued to nod despite the pit of dread that opened up within him. "If I then pull something like, say…" She pulled something from her pocket but didn't show him. A carnivorous glint appeared in her eyes and for the first time in a long time, Sanguinex remembered how it felt to be truly afraid. "THIS! THE POWER OF CHRIST REPELS YOU!" Yelling out a battle cry worthy of a ninja nun, she held out a rosary necklace with a small symbol of the cross on it. Sanguinex shrank back hissing and writhing whilst screeching something incomprehensible that eventually turned into understandable words. Not very pretty words, but words none the less.  
>"GAH! IT BURNS! GET RID OFF IT! STOP! PLEASE! I'VE LEARNT MY LESSON; I WON'T TRY BITING YOU AGAIN! NOW PLEASE TAKE THAT HIDEOUS PIECE OF SHIT AWAY FROM ME BEFORE I BURST INTO FLAMES!" Her eyes widened at his reaction and she placed the cross back in her pocket. Suddenly she began to laugh as Sanguinex slowly recovered from his brush with religion. All eyes turned to her with a hint of worry, wondering whether the trauma had caused her to go mad.<p>

"Why didn't I think of doing that five minutes ago? God, I'm such an idiot!" And with that, the atmosphere in the room began to relax once more.

**And that brings us to the end of Darling! Wow, these are just getting longer and longer! This was nine pages on Word (including author note and disclaimer)! XD Wow I really need to learn to get on with it sometimes! XD XD XD **

**Here's the one thing I used in Russian:**

****_souka _**- Bitch ~ Russian~ BWAHAHA! Teaching you to swear one language at a time!**

**Anyway, the cameo was SUPPOSED to be the Dark Bladers, but they wound up staying a lot longer than I thought! I guess you could call the cameo Gingka for this chapter instead. Don't worry, he'll be appearing again, unlike the Dark Bladers! :P Stupid vampire and friends filling up my chapter!**

**Sanguinex: Just can't get us out of your head, can you beautiful? *chuckles***

**Rose: *death-glare* Zip it Dracky or we're going to church. **

**Sanguinex: *shuts up obligingly***

**Rose: ANYWAY! Please review! If not I'll let Sanguinex know where you live, and he's been getting extremely hungry lately… :D *evil laugh* **


	4. Artist

4. Artist

***Russian accent* Greetings comrades! I apologise for delay, it's very long! Thank you to Nazrita and Oliterra for the reviews, made my day! Now we start chapter 4 of the story! *coughs* Yeah, I'm not that good at accents! XD**

**Bryan: *rolls eyes* I'll say! **

**Rose: *death glare* Pardon me, Bryan? *icy voice***

**Bryan: *pretends he's not scared, but voice wobbles a little* I'll…say…uh…*awkward laugh* I'm just going to leave now… *begins to edge out the room* **

**Rose: *whispers evilly* Yes, Bryan. Run, run away! As fast as you can! *evil laugh but stops suddenly* WAIT! **

**Bryan: *almost out the door, turns around slowly* W-w-what?**

**Rose: *puppy dog eyes* Can you do the disclaimer for me? **

**Bryan: *sighs and nods trudging back over* MisstiqueRose does not own Beyblade or any of the songs mentioned, she only owns her OC. *glares at her* There, can I go?**

**Rose: *grins brightly* Thank you Bryan! *annoying Pascal's Swirl ad voice* Just unwillingly did the disclaimer? Have a Pascal's Swirl! :D *offers the marshmallow packet* **

**Bryan: *takes packet grudgingly and mumbles a thank you***

"Speaking"

_Thinking_

"_Speaking in Russian (or another language)" – written in English_

"_**Phonetic Russian/Chinese pinyin/(and specially for this chapter, LATIN) (will be translated at the bottom)"**_

**AND NOW LET'S GET ON WITH THE STORY!**

"Hey there Charlie! Look, look! I drew you a picture; it's got me and Gigny, and Kenchi and Masamoo-moo and Yo-yo and Madoka and Tsu-tsu and Benben and look! I even did one of you too! See? There you are! Next to the scary men! But you don't think they're scary, do you? They really like you, and that's nice. Do you like my pictures? Look, look!" Tugging on her dress excitedly Yu pestered the waitress to have a look at his latest masterpiece. This time it was of all his friends, but they looked no more than stick figures with childish smiles and badly coloured clothes. Charlie, as she'd been dubbed, still smiled and called the picture an amazing effort. Kyoya didn't see why the waitress fawned over those pathetic attempts at artistry; she should be fawning over real people - manlier, muscular, attractive people like him!

Madoka elbowed him sharply as he rolled his eyes as the waitress cooed over the rest of the drawings. "Be nice, Kyoya. Yu worked really hard on those; and at least she's appreciating them. It wouldn't kill you to do the same." Gingka's confidence had begun to rub off on her, and now she was far less afraid of him, _which is annoying if I just want to be left alone!_ He snarled inside his head. He'd been doing a lot of that lately; since the competition required he work with everyone in the room at least once he wasn't allowed to take charge anymore. It also meant he had to put up with a lot of stupid annoying rude jerks who couldn't focus to save their lives…

"Do you think he's even listening anymore?" The waitress enquired curiously as she waved her hand in front of Kyoya's face before muttering 'déjà vu'.  
>"Probably not. Don't wake him though; it's nice when he's not glaring at everyone." Tsubasa laughed gently watching her. He tucked a strand of his slate hair behind his ears as she continued to investigate Kyoya, occasionally tugging on his deep green lion's mane or trying to look into his blue eyes. He'd seen why Kyoya was in such a foul mood, he just wanted the waitress for himself. <em>Selfish little lion<em>… She poked him a couple of times with the end of her pen just to check he was still alive much to the amusement of the rest of Gen Gen Galaxy's members. After receiving the 'all-clear' from her she turned to Tsubasa and the rest with a malicious glint in her eyes.

"Can I draw on him? He's not responding to anything I do." Needless to say everyone at the table began to laugh, bar Benkei who had fallen asleep and was snoring loudly. She scanned their faces for signs of disapproval and none seemed to show; especially not from Masamune's face who'd been eyeing her adoringly ever since she walked over the first time to sort out Yu's textas. Finding her adoring fan's unblinking gaze somewhat disconcerting she transferred her focus to Gingka Hagane. The redhead beamed brightly back at her with his golden-brown eyes gleaming. He was clearly just as excited as she was at the suggestion. Her eyes flicked to Kenta Yumiya, the cute little greenette boy was smiling sweetly at her whilst fiddling with a yellow texta. When she'd offered him textas as well as Yu, he had refused deciding rather to join in the conversation; but she could see the decision had pained him and had slipped him the small yellow texta with a wink. Next to him was Madoka Amano. The auburn haired girl was trying to look disapproving, but the light in her friendly blue eyes made it clear she wanted to see the result just as much as the rest did.

Her eyes fell finally to Tsubasa who nodded at her, flicking some more of his slate hair out of his amber eyes. She couldn't help but smile at the eagle, despite physical differences he reminded her of Bryan somewhat. Masamune was trying to regain her attention, and she noted his salt and pepper hair with two highlights, one read one orange, in the middle. Deciding it an interesting fashion choice for a fourteen year old, she finally met his brown eyes. The absolute adoration held within his eyes caused her to turn away trying not to blush out of embarrassment and regard her victim. Now what would she draw with such a golden opportunity? Thinking for a moment she leaned on the table, trying as best she could not to tip it over by applying too much force to it. Bryan had done so the other day and wound up flipping the entire table on himself much to the amusement of Tala. This then resulted in a furniture fight that was only stopped when she went up to the speakers and blasted out "Friday" by Rebecca Black. Needless to say, they both admitted defeat stunned by the deafening noise. She tapped the side of her head like Winnie The Pooh. "Think, think, think!"

Suddenly a brilliant idea came to her. Simple, effective and a stroke of pure evil genius. _Can't wait to see his face after he sees this!_

Taking out her black pen she turned to a still motionless Kyoya smirking carnivorously all the way up to her jade eyes. With the precision of a surgeon she drew the first line, and finding him non-responsive, continued on. Gen Gen Galaxy watched her with interest with Yu, Gingka and Kenta craning their necks to see what she was drawing. After a few moments she'd finished and stepped back to admire her work and it truly was inspired. Kitten whiskers and a blackened nose, a few dots underneath the nose and Kyoya looked like a cat! If they weren't in stitches by then the members of Gen Gen Galaxy were now. Ian walked past the table, on break from his DJ duties, took one look at Kyoya and turned to her.

"You have learned well, my pranking pupil." He sniffed as if he were about to cry. "I'm so proud." Beaming with pride she fist-pounded him before a loud noise interrupted their celebrations. Benkei let off an earth-shaking snore which beyond rocking all the glasses in the room certainly woke up Kyoya. He picked up his glass and examined it, contemplating throwing it at Benkei. The idea was certainly there for quite some time, but he decided better of it and looked to Gingka instead, who was trying to contain fits of laughter. So were Masamune, Kenta, Madoka and Yu. Even Tsubasa was chuckling silently. _What's going on? Did I miss something when I zoned out?_ His eyes flicked to the waitress who smiled at him as if nothing was wrong and asked if he wanted anything now, because he hadn't answered her earlier. _At least she's not laughing…_ That would be way too embarrassing.

Her eyes flicked to Benkei and he saw a malicious glint appear as she fiddled with her pen. The rest of the table seemed to smirk in anticipation and he was curious to see what they were all so excited about. Gently she walked over to Yu and leaned over politely. "Yu, would I be allowed to use my textas for a bit? You can keep using them afterwards." He nodded giggling like a schoolgirl handing her the rainbow of colours. _A rainbow…_ Inspiration is a funny thing, appearing in strange forms to breathe life into new ideas. And this idea was going to be her _**magnum opus**_(1), her best creation so far.

She analysed Benkei's sleeping form from every angle, slowly prowling around him like a jungle cat. The sense of grace and power that emanated from her was intoxicating, _especially to a young male like Kyoya…_ Tala watched over the table cautiously looking for any hint of danger towards his _**yurfegenie(2)**_ but he stopped looking when she turned around and winked at him. There was a cunning smirk on her face, and in that instant Tala knew she was going to be fine with whatever they threw at her. After the assessment, she pounced no wasting any time. Her strokes flew, flurried and wild as if she were possessed. The slow inhalation of anticipation from Gen Gen Galaxy was the only sound bar the pens. She paused for a moment before adding some finishing touches.

"Well, what do you think?" She asked tentatively, suddenly shy about her work. Not that she needed to be. The roar of approving laughter settled all nervousness as Gen Gen Galaxy nearly fell off their chairs laughing. And who could blame them? Benkei's face was a work of pranking artistry. A rainbow crossed his forehead as did a drawn on anime vein; a creepy moustache and triangle goatee with flowers cascading down his cheeks. To finish it off his signature bull; the one emblazoned on his jacket; was tattooed onto his neck only this one looked more cute and harmless than fierce. If they were to look closely, they'd see she'd added little love hearts across his eyelids with the words "Don't fall asleep in the wolf's den" across the top of his eyebrows.

An inquisitive Ian walked past again, took one look at Benkei, met her eyes and nearly died of uncontrollable laughter. Curious Bryan and Tala made their way over and took a good long look at Benkei. The yell of laughter that erupted from the Russians echoed around the massive hall for a good five minutes. Spencer came over to see what was so hysterical, saw the black pen in her hands and smiled knowingly. "Little one, I thought we agreed we weren't going to draw on people after Bryan." She sighed and met his eyes, trying her best to look innocent and adorable. _Best trick Tala ever taught me_, she smirked to herself. The wolf had taken it upon himself to teach her all the ways to weasel out of anything, even a Spencer-the-mother lecture. Needless to say, the lessons came in incredibly handy.

"But Spencer, he's asleep and it's not like he's going to know it was me. Besides these textas wash off; the ones Bryan used didn't." Her eyes flicked to Bryan who raised his hands in a 'don't judge me' gesture. Spencer sighed, to anyone else it would seem as if he was aggravated with her response, but she knew she was off the hook.  
>"Normally I'd be mad at you for graffiti-ing our guests, but since you created such a masterpiece…" he exclaimed motioning to Benkei's still sleeping form, and furtively indicated Kyoya the kitten as well. "I'm going to let this one slide. But don't do it again, go it?" She nodded brightly and he ruffled her hair before fixing her headband again. "Good girl." The genuine smile that crossed his face surprised many of the guests who were unused to Russian happiness. Lightly she leaned over and kissed his forehead beaming like a little girl. He blushed and wrapped his arms around her, his little doll.<br>"Thank you, _**balshuwi br'at(3)**_."

_*Time skip* About five minutes later_

Oh Ming-Ming was stewing. It was plain to see; even the dumbest of people could figure it out e.g. her team-mates. Her bad mood seemed to emanate from her like a demonic aura, making even Brooklyn, the unholy King of Darkness, shiver when he looked across at her. She wasn't usually this vengeful, but something had really set her off. Her puppy-dog brown eyes, usually cute and adorable were filled with hatred. Hatred directed at one person in the room and one person only. The waitress "Charlotte", or as Ming-Ming called her… well, I don't think I'm allowed to tell you all the horrible things Ming-Ming called her. The least cursing name Ming-Ming had given her was the "green-eyed monster" which definitely was rather ironic in the situation. Why was she so hated by Ming-Ming, they had only met about an hour ago at the door when she'd shown them to their table? It was a petty, vain, simple reason but that's Ming-Ming for you.

Ming-Ming hated the waitress because she thought the waitress was trying to be cuter than her, and everyone knows (and if they don't they have their ears chewed off by her) that she, Ming-Ming, is the single cutest little girl to ever walk the face of the Earth and must be treated as such. No one or no thing is allowed to be cuter than Ming-Ming. "But it looks like somebody missed THAT text!" Luckily her vicious snarl was only under her breath, because she knew being mean would make her seem less cute. How dare she look all innocent and adorable? That's just not right! And the most annoying thing to Ming-Ming was that she WASN'T faking, she was genuinely this cheery like that annoying Max guy from the Breakers. She could tell, she'd seen enough fakers in her life to know an honest person when she saw one. But all that did was make her madder. _Nobody can be that nice naturally…_ As the waitress almost skipped over to take their orders curly hair flowing out behind her with a bright cheery smile on her face, Ming-Ming was silently restraining the urge she had to pick up her chair and beat the waitress with it. Needless to say, she knew that wasn't an option, the waitress was nearly double her height and plus, she was one of the Russians. That made her almost untouchable.

Almost…

"So would you guys like anything?" Her sing song voice irritated Ming-Ming, but the rest of her table seemed totally relaxed by it. Mystel, her on-off boyfriend, smiled brightly back at the waitress, Brooklyn seemed to wake up from whatever land he'd drifted off to in order to beam slightly disconcertingly, even Garland and Crusher had hints of smiles on their faces. _Wait till I get my hands on her, she's so dead, I'm going to…_ Mystel ordered something, but Ming-Ming wasn't listening. _She's going to wish she never messed with me…_ Brooklyn complimented the waitress whilst requesting something strange, but Ming-Ming didn't care. _I'll kill her for daring to be cuter than I am; I'm the cutest thing alive! _Garland and Crusher made their orders, and Garland was acting the gentleman about it all but Ming-Ming was in her own little world. _With her gone I'll be the cutest thing, no one will ever defy me again because I…  
><em>"Hey, would you like anything to drink…Ming-Ming was it?" Ming-Ming's hate-filled eyes twisted angrily to the waitress, how DARE she interrupt her mental rant? She might just be doing her job, but she could at least wait until the mental rant was in full swing. Ming-Ming knew she had to be polite and only think all the nasty things she wanted to say to the waitress. Think _bitch; _say 'No thank you.'

Unfortunately, she got it the wrong way around.

"YOU BITCH, HOW DARE YOU BE CUTER THAN ME? WITH YOUR PRETTY HAIR AND GOOFY SMILE YOU'RE ACTING LIKE A HAPPY PUPPY DOG, WHICH ONLY MAKES YOU CUTER! ALMOST EVERY GUY IN THE ROOM WHO ISN'T TAKEN IS FAWNING OVER YOU AND YOU LOVE IT, DON'T YOU? THAT SHOULD BE ME THEY'RE FAWNING OVER! I SHOULD SMASH YOUR FACE IN WITH A SHOVEL AND BEAT YOU TO THE GROUND SO THAT I CAN BE THE CUTEST THING ON THE PLANET! NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO BE CUTER THAN ME, YOU GOT THAT? NOBODY!" This rant went on for a good five more minutes before she ran out of breath. She might not be able to sing, but boy can she yell. Bryan, who had been taking a break and drinking some apple juice, dropped the glass he was holding and the sound of it clattering against the tiled floor behind the bar was the only sound in the room. A stunned silence wavered on a knife's edge; everyone terrified to even make a sound lest it set off another ungodly screech. Slowly all gazes switched from Ming-Ming to the waitress to see how she'd react to such a tirade. She was mouthing something to herself, deep in thought. After a moment she turned back to Ming-Ming who was triumphantly waiting for her to run off crying and screaming. Much to Ming-Ming's horror, she did quite the reverse.

She burst out laughing as if Ming-Ming had told the best joke in the world. Bryan sighed with relief and began to clean up his apple juice. _I don't know what she's thinking, but at least she's not offended. _Her laugh relaxed the tension, and perked the interest of one Mariam Rose of the Saint Shields on the table next to the Justice Five – Ming-Ming, Crusher, Mystel, Garland and Brooklyn. How could someone laugh off such a horrible bitching session? Did she not care at all? Or, was there did she have something else planned? No, she's too sweet to have an ulterior motive. _I swear she is a female version of my boyfriend Max, so bright and cheery… _She smiled to herself careful not to let anyone else see. _I think we're going to get along famously. _Once Charlotte finished laughing, she beamed at Ming-Ming, which only served to confuse Ming-Ming further.

"In my entire life, I have never, ever had someone yell compliments at me. It took me a while to figure out what you were saying, but then I realised 'Wait, she's complimenting me and I don't think she even knows it'!" She began to laugh again, much to the astonishment of Ming-Ming who thought she'd be in tears crying her eyes out.  
>"Whatd'ya mean, complimenting you? I wasn't complimenting you; half of what I said was death threats! So why are you still laughing?"<br>"Because you clearly don't realise how un-adorable all this is going to make you sound. I don't understand what the problem is here anyway. You're far cuter than I am; you're small, girly and adorable with big eyes. I'm tall and gangly like a spider and my hair's a mess." She tugged on one of her wild brown curls to emphasise her point which sprung around for a bit after she let go. Ming-Ming's eyes nearly fell out of their sockets and a whole new wave of hatred washed over her, but also a small fragment of her that was humbled by the compliments.

There was a moment of silence whilst Ming-Ming processed all the information and Charlotte watched her with a lilt of amusement. She did some deep breathing exercises to calm down slightly but they were only for show, she was still as mad as ever. "Let me get this straight…" Charlotte nodded smiling.  
>"By all means," Slightly taken aback by the remark, Ming-Ming continued on.<br>"You don't think you're cute, but you think I'm cute because I'm small and girly with big eyes." Charlotte nodded.  
>"Correct."<br>"Yet, if I were to ask most of the people in this room, especially the Russians, they would call you cute." Ming-Ming's calm analytical voice that she'd been using faltered on 'cute', a snide undertone suddenly rising from the shadows.  
>"Well I don't think…" Goofily she blushed and grinned, scratching the back of her head. The mass of "aww's" that rose from the guests made her blush harder and she continued to deny her adorableness. This time though her denial statement was cut off by Tyson who jumped from his chair. Ming-Ming nearly had smoke coming out of her ears so it was a good thing too.<br>"Alright guys, let's settle this like civilised people." That certainly caused some scoffs as it was coming from Tyson. "Let's have a cute-off!"

A murmur of confusion filled the air, glances were thrown to people on the other end of the room to see if anybody knew what Tyson had planned in that strange little mind of his. Undeterred by the quizzical looks he was getting, he continued on grabbing a microphone from no one quite knew where. "Alright, so to settle once and for all who's cuter, we'll have a cute-off! Basically this is like one of the rounds of the contest, each contestant performs one song to demonstrate their adorableness and afterwards we have a vote based on three criteria. Dance Moves, Song Choice and that mysterious cute factor" Most of the audience was impressed that Tyson knew what criteria even meant. "And whoever we decide is cuter is the Queen of Cuteness. Got it? Any questions?" Everyone shook their heads, bar Charlotte who raised her hand.

"Two things Tyson." She looked up and met his eyes. "One," she held up her pointing finger. "Cuteness is a subjective matter and although using a poll would usually be effective I get the impression that people might vote based on who they hate least rather than who's cuter." Confusion wafter lazily around the room, realising perhaps not everyone understood what she meant she decided to try again. "You see, my idea of cute is probably different to his idea of cute," she pointed to Miguel. "And his idea of cute is probably different to her idea of cute," This time she spun around and pointed at Queen. "It's subjective, which means it's based on opinion rather than facts. So theoretically, a poll would be good but not a lot of you like her, so you wouldn't vote for her." A slight smirk crossed her face as she continued, strutting forward holding up two fingers. She seemed to have something planned to say, but she thought better of it and grinned shrugging.

Tyson, deciding this was a signal for all clear, grinned ushering everyone to make a kind of performance area for the two contestants whilst Ming-Ming skipped on first without really consulting anyone. _Fine by me, I need the time to change anyway. _Sneaking out with the speed of a ninja Charlotte ducked out to a room labelled 'Staff Only' much to the interest of Kai. No, he wasn't interesting in where she was going or what she had planned… was he?

Ming-Ming struck a pose, taking out her pink sparkly microphone that no one would else ever be caught dead or alive with as the violins of Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" started to play. God knows how Ian had figure out she'd want that song, but he did. Thankfully the dress she was wearing matched her mic, so she wouldn't have a nervous breakdown. Bubblegum pink short strapless dress (which came with matching sparkling pink shoes and a pink bow in her hair, mind you) with more ruffles and frills than you could poke a stick at and that was the only way Charlotte, Mathilda and Mariam would ever touch that dress, poking it with a stick. Way too girly to be human. Ming-Ming wiggled her hips and winked at the audience before she began, who all quietly supressed the urge to groan.

_I threw a wish in the well, Don't ask me,__  
>I'll never tell I looked to you as it fell,<em>_  
>And now you're in my way<em>_  
>I trade my soul for a wish,<em>_  
>Pennies and dimes for a kiss I wasn't looking for this,<em>_  
>But now you're in my way<em>

More surprising than Ian's knowledge of what she'd want was that she wasn't completely and utterly terrible. Her dance moves weren't that bad, aside from the try-too-hard cuteness plus her singing wasn't causing ear bleeds and sonic shock like it usually did. A few members of the audience actually clapped along, Kenny being her obsessive fan nearly squealed as the pre-chorus rolled around.

_Your stare was holdin', Ripped jeans, skin was showin'__  
>Hot not, wind was blowin' Where you think you're going, baby?<em>_  
><em>  
><em>Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy,<em>_  
>But here's my number, so call me, maybe?<em>_  
>It's hard to look right, at you baaabeh, (That last word she bleated like a lamb, <em>Charlotte noted)_  
>But here's my number, so call me, maybe?<em>

_Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy,__  
>But here's my number, so call me, maybe?<em>_  
>And all the other boys, try to chaaase me, (Wonder if she's doing it deliberately? <em>Charlotte thought, leaning on the wall as she tugged her skirt up.)_  
>But here's my number, so call me, maybe?<em>_  
><em>

People were really getting into it at this point; despite the fact Ming-Ming's routine was rather repetitive. Walk four steps to the right, strike a pose, blow kisses, walk four steps to the left, strike a pose, blow kisses, twirl and pose again. Occasionally a bit of random flirtation and adorable actions to go with some of the words were thrown in but other than that, same thing. But with this song it didn't really matter, it sort of suited it.

_You took your time with the call,__  
>I took no time with the fall<em>_  
>You gave me nothing at all, but still, you're in my way<em>_  
>I beg, and borrow and steal<em>_  
>Have foresight and it's real<em>_  
>I didn't know I would feel it, but it's in my way<em>

_Your stare was holdin', Ripped jeans,__  
>Skin was showin' Hot not, wind was blowin'<em>_  
>Where you think you're going, baby?<em>

_Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy,__  
>But here's my number, so call me, maybe?<em>_  
><em>_It's hard to look right, at you baaabeh,(_Charlotte actually rolled her eyes at this point)_  
>But here's my number, so call me, maybe?<em>_  
>And all the other boys, try to chaaase me, (<em>And here too, as did a couple of other people)_  
>But here's my number, so call me, maybe?<em>

She pulled a cute pouty face as she sang the next part, trying her best to look as sugar-coated adorable as possible.

_Before you came into my life I missed you so bad__  
>I missed you so bad I missed you so, so bad<em>_  
>Before you came into my life I missed you so bad<em>_  
>And you should know that I missed you so, so bad<em>

_Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy,__  
>But here's my number, so call me, maybe?<em>_  
><em>_It's hard to look right, at you baaabeh,__  
>But here's my number, so call me, maybe?<em>_  
>And all the other boys, try to chaaase me,<em>_  
>But here's my number, so call me, maybe?<em>

_Before you came into my life I missed you so bad__  
>I missed you so bad I missed you so so bad<em>_  
>Before you came into my life I missed you so bad<em>_  
>And you should know that<em>_  
>So call me, maybe?<em>

She put her hand next to her ear in a 'call-me' sort of way kicking her leg up for a final pose and then it was the end of the song. Quite a few people clapped genuinely, and were rather surprised they were doing so. Kenny screamed and clapped like a lunatic so Rei took him over to their table to get some water and calm down a little. Tyson sweat-dropped smiling as Ming-Ming bowed, blew kisses, posed some more and just generally wouldn't get off the stage until he shoved her off. "Okay ladies and gentlemen what a performance! Who knew she had it in her? I certainly didn't! Okay our next and last contender for tonight's cute-off is the lovely Charlotte!" He looked around for Charlotte but found her seat empty with only a note. Tyson walked over and read the note out aloud, without even realising he was reading it into the microphone. "Baby… Maniacs?"

Suddenly an electronic melody played over the speakers, redirecting all attention to Ian who pointed down. The door to the staff room swung open and every jaw in the audience dropped whether it be shock or otherwise, but it wasn't the song that caused it. It was Charlotte, who strutted out in a completely different outfit to her waitress dress. Spencer was rather impressed with her choice of costume; a combination of a white short sleeved dress shirt with a kind of translucent green vest/singlet over it, a violet tie, a green and purple plaid skirt that was hemmed with black lace that stopped slightly shorter than the waitress dress, but a pair of deep green thigh-high socks prevented too much exposure. A pair of metallic violet Converse finished off the look, combined with doing up her hair in a sort of messy bun with a strange violet flower she looked like a character out of a video game!

Such a powerful entrance only made everyone in the room wonder what was going to happen next…

**MWAHAHAHAHA! CLIFFHANGER! *realizes that's probably really mean* **

**Sorry, but if this chapter went any longer I'd go insane! Having a song in there makes it appear so much longer than it is, but it's still MASSIVE! *wipes sweat off brow* ANYWAY! What's going to happen next? What song is Charlotte planning to dance to (if you've figured it out by now, I applaud you :P)?**

**By the way, the clothes Charlotte wears for her performance are a combination of Serah's outfit from Final Fantasy XIII and Hatsune Miku's regular attire ^_^ And then a bit of a colour change!**

**And now for the translations: **

_**Magnum opus**_** – masterpiece, greatest work [Latin]**

_**Yurfegenie – **_**duchess [Russian]**

_**balshuwi br'at – **_**big brother [Russian]**

**PLEASE REVIEW! PRETTY PLEASE WITH SPRINKLES ON TOP! *begs* I BEG OF YOU! *is dragged off by Spencer* **

**Spencer: *thinks for a moment* A review would be nice guys ^_^ **


	5. Tomboy

5. Tomboy

**Greetings my beloved readers, I have returned with another glorious chapter of Little Russian Doll! Thanks to all those who reviewed, I do love reading your thoughts!**

**During the last chapter we bore witness to Ming-Ming's rant which led to the cute-off! Now it's Charlotte's turn to sing, what will she pull? You'll just have to wait and see! *dramatic laugh***

**Tyson: *sweatdrops a little* Somebody's had too much sugar…**

**Rose: *laughing hysterically to herself* **

**Tyson: Well, I guess I should do the disclaimer. MisstiqueRose does not own Beyblade or any of the songs she mentions, she only owns her OC. *glances at Rose* I better go before she gets too crazy…**

"Speaking"

_Thinking_

"_Speaking in Russian (or another language)" – written in English_

"_**Phonetic Russian/Chinese pinyin (will be translated at the bottom)"**_

**NOW ON WITH THE STORY!**

Bryan smirked to himself as he watched Charlotte strut out in perfect time with the electric beat Ian blasted from the balcony. He knew there was a part of her that was probably terrified right now, she did suffer massive stage-fright in front of an audience, but he had a feeling her love of performing would just power through anyway. It was strange to think someone so outgoing had stage fright but he'd seen her shake like a leaf when she tried to get up and speak to an audience. It had been Tala, surprisingly who had offered to help her with her stage-fright which he'd noticed when he danced with her.

_*Flashback*_

"Step back, forward, and good," Tala exclaimed as Charlotte quickly picked up the moves he was teaching her. Admittedly, she was a fast learner and had a decent sense of rhythm which was better than when he'd tried to teach Bryan. He shuddered a little at those memories. "You're not bad at this." A small smirk crossed her face; she could see he meant more than that but was too proud to say so.  
>"Thanks. You aren't too shabby yourself." He suddenly grabbed her waist and dipped her backwards.<br>"Have a little faith princess, you didn't think I'd get this far and not be able to dance, did you?" Her eyes were wide and startled as she stared back at him, so caught off-guard she couldn't even muster up an answer. He brought her back up, twirled her out and pulled her close. Really close. Uncomfortably close. Actually it was rather warm and nice, but still somewhat uncomfortable because it was Tala after all.  
>"And here I thought this couldn't get any more awkward." She muttered to herself but with Tala barely three inches away, he naturally heard her.<br>"What's wrong, pretty?" He smirked, "Can't take the heat?" The smirk he'd just been wearing graced her face as she twirled out of his grip.  
>"I thought you already had a girlfriend. And yet here you are Latin ballroom dancing alone with me. Pulling me uncomfortably close to you. Am I the only one who sees something wrong with this?" He chuckled, bringing her back to his embrace again.<p>

"I'm supposed to teach you to dance; having you next to me is part of the job description. Besides, it's not like you're complaining about being so close to me, are you? Because that would be a shame, I rather like having you around." He met her gaze calmly and she blushed quickly looking away. She mumbled something about him making fun of her for not being used to so much intimate contact and he smiled. Not a smirk, not a cynical grin, but an actual smile to which after a moment of shock she smiled back. The song they'd put on to dance to finished gently and Tala bowed, lightly kissing her hand.

"Do you suffer from stage-fright?" Stunned by the seemingly-random question, she nodded.  
>"Yeah, for public speaking and stuff like that. But I get over it. I don't mind dancing onstage, if that's what you're asking." Something clicked in Tala's mind; a little light bulb went off suddenly. Tala, despite his cold nature, made an incredibly interesting psychiatrist as he was very good at spotting people's insecurities and flaws. The only problem was he tended to just voice his findings on people when he found them – not when they asked.<br>"You don't like performing on your own, you like having other people there to back you up. On your own you feel like people are judging you and there's no one else to blame if you screw up. Having other people means you have scapegoats, it's not your fault if things go badly because if you're on your own you're sure they would. You lack confidence in yourself and your own abilities." Stunned by the psycho-analysis she waited silently. But he wasn't finished yet. "But the strangest thing is that, even though you're scared of getting up on your own and performing, you do it anyway. You just smile, pretend you're not shitting yourself and get right into whatever you happen to be doing. You love performing so much, it overrides the fear. You would love to have more confidence, but you have more confidence than you could possibly imagine. You just need to find it." She smiled back at him as he spoke and after a moment grinned brightly.

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the feeling something is greater than it. It's something I try my best to live by Tala." A small honest smile crossed his face.  
>"Then I'll help you do so. You aren't someone who should be weighed down with fear." Beaming she hugged him, touched by his offer.<br>"Thanks, Tala." Shocked he stood there for a moment unsure of what to do, but after a moment he hugged her back and smiled letting slip something he hadn't ever thought he'd say.  
>"What are friends for?"<p>

_*Present Moment*_

The electronic beat pulsed around the room building and increasing in pace as Charlotte strut to centre stage and it almost paused as Charlotte struck a pose – both her hands almost covering her face leaving a gap through which her eyes were visible with her hip out. An incredibly quick set of dance steps followed; Charlotte not missing a beat much to the surprise of everyone in the room, Ming-Ming's especially.

In sequence the moves went like this: her hands moved down to be in line with her left knee with her legs shoulder width apart, then she crossed her arms in front of her chest bringing her feet together. She did the same for the right, then took a step out with her right leg pointing one arm in the same direction as her step (right diagonal outwards from her body) and held the other arm upwards with her elbow at a right angle to her upper arm. Taking a step with her left leg so now both legs were parallel again, she brought her arms together horizontally at her chest with her hands almost touching in the centre. She punched her right arm up, almost paused for a fraction of a beat and then her left arm she swung around in a sort of arc until it was at her legs slightly twisting her body so that her swinging arm was moving away from the audience as she did so. All this happened in the space of about four seconds so it was ridiculously fast.

She repeated this three times, the fourth time doing only the first four moves before swinging her hips out to the left and confidently regaining stance again. The little headset she'd put on came into effect as she sang making her voice sound slightly synthesised. But the one thing the audience noticed was bar the first line she was singing in Japanese word for word. She had memorized an entire song in a language she'd never studied formally before and was now singing it for the benefit of those who spoke Japanese in the audience, which was everyone there. _Clever girl,_ Kai thought to himself before trying to get her out of his head to no avail. The fact she was dancing to a Hatsune Miku song, in fact one of his favourite Hatsune Miku songs "Baby Maniacs", was not helping his attempts at clearing his mind.

_Lovely? Cutie? Sexy? Pretty? Cool? Or Chic? __  
><em>_How should I attack you today?__  
><span>Flashing the contrast of my absolute territory, this is a thought trial and error process<span>__  
><span>But there's no doubt I will monopolize your gaze <span>_

_(Well she's definitely covered that! _Kai thought before trying again to get her out of his head)

_Hope for it, wish for it, seek me more and more__  
><span>Everything will be the way you want it to<span>__  
><span>Change my clothes, transform me, do whatever you want with me<span>__  
>And hold me tight while you're at it!<em>

She held herself gently with a small gasp after the last line, as if someone had just hugged her. Needless to say there were about three people in the audience who wished they had just hugged her. Not that she was aware of this, of course.

_Baby boy! __My infatuation won't stop, so hurry up and steal me away  
><em>_Say, am I not even in your vision? Who's the one reflected in those eyes of yours?  
><em>If I can make you turn around to look at me I will do anything it takes<br>_I'm the only good match for you, my egoistic prince___

As the words ended for the time being leaving only the pulsing electro beat she went back to her dance, but this section was different to the first. After a few repeats it suddenly went soft, bringing out only the bass and a softer melody; then return to original volume. In response to this Charlotte did her dance normally and then in the softer section she bent forwards and rolled her shoulder in time with the music. This pattern repeated twice before going to the bridge which Charlotte knew was here make-or-break moment so she gave it everything. A spotlight opened up on her as the house lights dimmed. This was her moment; nothing in this world could bring her down.

_You know, you're the only one in my mind so stop pretending not to realize my feelings__  
><em>She threw her right hand, in the air, the other hand ruffling through her hair with her hip jutting out. As if in slow motion she brought her right hand down so they were both behind her head whilst looking slightly away from the audience drawing them closer into the performance.  
><em><span>Stop the pains in my chest and care about me more<span>__  
><em>She clasped her hands in front of her chest looking down and paused for a moment before holding out her hand and looking straight out to the audience as she sang the last part. Instead of her gasping just after the last line, the audience gasped in anticipation waiting patiently for her next move.

_Baby Maniacs! __I'm going to drown in this so hurry up and take me out__  
><span>You know, I'm head over heels for you there's only one person reflected in these eyes of mine<span>_

_Why are you so sensitive? What could you be unhappy about?__  
><span>Or so I try shouting out these unreasonable thoughts<span>_

She walked four steps to the right in time with the beat, as if to ask the people to the right holding out her hands in a cute little "I don't know" gesture. Doing this four times alternating between walking left and right she almost seemed to be mimicking parts of Ming-Ming's routine, but doing them better than she had.

_I love you! _She pointed one hand out to the audience dramatically, but was careful to not specify a target. The expression on her face made her seem as if she was singing from the heart, despite the slightest hint of a smile on her face._  
>I need you! <em>The other hand pointed to the audience. She twirled around as she sang the last line only stopping for the last few notes._  
><em>_I was born into this world just so I could meet you!_

As she held the last note she placed her back of her hand on her forehead and bent over backwards as if she were about to faint. In a stunning display of flexibility she kicked her leg closest to the audience over and twirled around so she was standing upright facing them again and performed the little dance again until the last beat of the song where she threw her right hand in the air and struck a pose. And with that her song was finished.

A moment of stunned silence ensued and Charlotte almost held her breath waiting to see whether everyone had liked her performance. Tala began to clap, knowing how much she craved approval. Then Spencer, then Bryan, then Ian from the DJ station, then Tyson, Max, Rei, Kai, Hilary, Gingka, Lee, Masamune, Eddy, Mariam, Mariah, Gary, Kevin until the entire audience was on their feet for a standing ovation. The applause rolled in tidal waves around the room, everyone cheered as it was a solid effort after all. Something like that definitely took practice, everyone in there knew that. Charlotte blushed and bowed, proudly grinning. Ming-Ming was horrified, how could the waitress be better than her? This was so not what she'd expected.

Tyson jumped onstage, mic in hand. He was slightly breathless from all the ecstatic cheering he'd been doing but did his best to hide it. "Wow ladies and gentlemen! I can safely say I was not expecting something that awesome! That was one of the coolest things I have ever seen, no scratch that, the single coolest thing in the history of the universe!" The cheeky light that flashed through Charlotte's eyes as she heard that didn't go unnoticed but went ignored. _He has no idea what we've got in store for the rest of the evening. If he reacted like this to just me, imagine his reaction to… _She woke up after a moment realising Tyson was still speaking so she went back to listening.

"How about that dance folks? So fast, it was incredible! Let's give it up for the lovely Charlotte! Now, I feel it only fair to ask, why choose that song?" She smirked, and the Blitzkriegs knew whatever she had planned was to going to burn Ming-Ming.  
>"Simple. Don't all of you speak Japanese?" A unanimous nod washed through the crowd and she smiled please with the answer. "So I sang because you guys will understand it, I really like the song but I have to read the translation to understand what she says." She laughed goofily. "More for your benefit than mine. I don't speak Japanese, I just rote learn the words, or at least the way they sound when they're sung." Tyson nodded grinning.<br>"What a nice thought ladies and gentlemen, she sang in Japanese for our benefit even though it puts her at a disadvantage! Let's hear it one more time for Charlotte!" The audience cheered obligingly and she grinned as she walked off the stage to go sit next to Spencer and Tala.

"Good job darling. That was awesome!" Spencer smiled hugging her, Tala did the same. Tala didn't need words to say how happy he was for her, he just grinned at her. _"__We're so proud of you!"_ She blushed and grinned as Bryan hugged her from behind and told her she was pretty amazing, he would have ruffled her hair but it was in a bun and he didn't want to ruin it so he just nuzzled her head instead. Ian gave her a thumbs-up from the DJ station with a giant smile on his face. Tyson grinned, getting his inner presenter on as he redirected all attention back to him. At this point a couple of people were thinking Tyson should just take over presenting for the contest, he was really good at it!

"Alright now it's time to vote. We'll do this in a nice civilised way, good old 'raise your hand' voting! You can only vote once, and so I'll give you some time to think about it!" Thinking music, the type that plays on cheesy game shows, played over the speakers causing a few laughs courtesy of Ian. Everyone looked deep in thought and Charlotte took the opportunity to smile at Ming-Ming, cutie-queen to cutie-queen. Just because they were competing didn't mean Charlotte couldn't be nice to her.

"May the cutest girl win…?"  
>"You bet your sorry ass I will!"<p>

_Wow, somebody's having a temper tantrum. I wonder if she'll have a meltdown if I push her any further… _Charlotte rolled her eyes ignoring Ming-Ming's rude behaviour. The thinking music finished; everyone was ready to vote. The atmosphere was nervous and excited as Tyson raised his hands to signal time was up. A hush descended over the crowd as all eyes returned to centre stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls it's now time to vote for our Cute-Off! In order to keep voting a secret, please close your eyes! And don't cheat – I can see you! As well as this, the Blitzkriegs and the Justice Five will not be able to vote, because we all know you're going to vote for your respective representative." Charlotte laughed a little at this; it was so true but obligingly did shut her green eyes. Kai quietly thought that was a shame, she did have nice eyes. _Darn it not again!_ Daichi tried peeking, but Tyson whacked him with the mic so he did do as he was told. "Alright, hands up if you vote for… Charlotte!" Deciding to mix things up, he used her name first. In truth it was because he'd liked Charlotte's performance more, there was more spunk to it than Ming-Ming's rather wishy-washy failed attempt at cute.

Slowly Tyson counted out all the hands, there were a good half the audience; in fact it was twenty one hands including his. That was a pretty big group of people but it was more surprising where most of Charlotte's support came from – all the Breakers bar Kenny and Daichi, Johnny, Oliver, Mariam, Mathilda, all the White Tigers, F Dynasty (Julia and Raul), and most of Gen Gen Galxay with the exception of Tsubasa and Benkei. _Pretty varied group_, he was rather impressed. He saw Charlotte doing some calculations in her head and she seemed rather pleased with the outcome. He smiled, Maths wasn't exactly his strong point, but he reckoned she seemed like one of those really smart people and whatever she'd figured out was probably something good.

"Alright, thank you voters, now it's time to vote for Ming-Ming! Raise those hands and shut those eyes ladies and gentlemen!" The remainder of the audience raised their hands and Tyson was stunned with the outcome. There were forty four people here not including the Blitzkriegs, Charlotte and Justice 5 and if twenty one had voted for Charlotte that means that… _Ming-Ming won! She has twenty three votes! _Her votes were even more varied than Charlotte's – Kenny, Daichi, Enrique, Robert, Joseph, Dunga, Ozuma, the entire PPB All Starz team, Claude, Michael, Aaron, King, Queen, all of Team Psykick, Tsubasa and Bekei. The shock was evident on his face when he looked to Charlotte, but she smiled at him and then it clicked. She'd known. From the moment Tyson had laid down the challenge, she'd had a game plan. _And this was all part of it! Well, I may as well see how this pans out, but it's certainly going to be something!_

"Well folks what a turn of events!" He grinned as everyone opened their eyes anxious for the results. Ming-Ming looked genuinely scared that she might be beat, so Charlotte smiled at her reassuringly to try and tell her she'd won. This unfortunately gave Ming-Ming the completely wrong message and she began to go into an emotional meltdown at the thought of not being crowned the Cutie Queen. Charlotte's eyes widened and sensing there was going to be an explosion, she made a swirling motion with her hand to indicate to speed it up, and fast before Ming-Ming blew her top! Tyson nodded, shooting a frightened glance at Ming-Ming before motioning to Brooklyn to do something.

"Ladies and gentlemen I can now reveal that our Cutie Queen is… Drum roll please!" Despite the fear of a Ming-Ming explosive outburst he still believed in theatrics. _What a doofus…_ Kai sighed to himself, but he couldn't help but smile internally. Kai actually did care for his team-mates, despite his cold-hearted appearance. Tyson might be a doofus, but he was their doofus! A drum roll obligingly played over the speakers with Ian giving the audience a small bow. "Ming-Ming! Congratulations! You are the winner of our Cute-Off and are now the Cutie Queen! Please give her a round of applause, and let's not forget our awesome DJ Ian! I've been your host, Tyson Granger and I can't wait to see what the rest of the evening holds, good night!" Tyson had basically blurted all that out in one long stream still slightly afraid of Ming-Ming, but people still clapped for Ian and Ming-Ming. Tyson ran offstage as Ming-Ming skipped on; any breakdowns she was about to have immediately put to rest. Charlotte grinned, stood up and was about to head back to the staff room to get changed when Ming-Ming stopped her.

"Hey, I'm sorry about before…" _Liar, _Charlotte thought instantly but still smiled at her anyway. She was glad Ming-Ming won; now that she had her self-confidence back she'd returned to her regular cutesy state. "That was really mean of me! Hope you can forgive me! No hard feelings, right?" Charlotte smiled and shook her hand.  
>"Don't worry, I already knew I was going to lose from the moment Tyson laid down the challenge. I just danced for the fun of it." Surprise shot through the air like lightning. She knew?<br>"But… but… how could you have known? Are you psychic? What…how…?" Ming-Ming stuttered, unable to align her thoughts. And here's where Charlotte's Tala-like smirk returned and Tyson could see her evil genius plan was in motion.

"Simple. Like I said before, you're physically cuter than I am. This means that pretty much no matter what I do, you will appear cuter. The smart voters in the audience, although they may or may not have liked mine more, found yours to be cuter and voted based off that. Nothing more. After all, weren't the criteria Dance Moves, Song Choice and the mysterious cute factor?" There was a pause as that registered around the room and Emily nodded.  
>"She's right. That's how I based my vote and everyone knows I can't stand Ming-Ming's singing or dancing." Their eyes locked and flames burned; the All Starz took a few steps away from Emily after that. "I liked Charlotte's much more; it had some originality to it as opposed to Ming-Ming's cookie cutter cute routine. Plus anyone who's willing to put themselves at a disadvantage for the audience certainly deserves some credit. But her hypothesis is correct, she's not as cute as Ming-Ming."<p>

Miguel, being the gentleman he was, decided it was probably rude to insult a lady like that even if it was fact-based. Hey, he might have been manipulated by an evil manager, Barthez, in the past but at least one thing he'd learned was good manners! "It doesn't mean your performance was in any way worse than Ming-Ming's, in fact I think that almost everyone here liked yours way more." Apart from Kenny's fanboy shriek of denial everyone agreed. Charlotte grinned brightly.

"Thank you, but I didn't want to win anyway. If I'd wanted to beat her to a pulp, I would have danced to Caramelldansen." Max's eyes lit up when she mentioned the Swedish dance and she made a motion with her hand that meant 'I'll have Ian put it on next, and we can dance together' causing Max to grin. She really almost was his twin. "I chose Baby Maniacs because I've got a point to prove and it suited my purpose better." Ming-Ming who had recovered from the shock of being told she'd only won because Charlotte had thrown the contest finally summoned some human decency and rather than have a shrieking fit simply asked what was on her mind.  
>"And that point was?" Her voice had almost risen to a falsetto, if that were even possible for the already high-voiced girl. The 'Tala' smirk graced Charlotte's face again as she finally put the last stage of her evil plan into motion.<p>

"I don't want to be classed as 'cute'. Or at least not the Ming-Ming kind of cute. Her cute is that irritating pretty, ditzy and girly, and unless you haven't noticed I'm not exactly any of those things. I'm also not very ladylike either," She laughed a little on that. "Don't get me wrong, there are times where it's nice looking all made-up and gorgeous, but I couldn't do that all the time. It's too much work! I don't understand how people manage it all the time! I hate makeup – it itches and I always scratch it off, can't do frilly dresses, and I hate pink." Mathilda and Mariam silently high-fived at the news; they had another tomboy to add to their ranks! "I just wanted to prove to you that I don't have to be cute. There are so many other things I'd rather be called, that it's okay to not be classed as 'cute'. I'll just choose something else from my vocabulary to call myself instead. I've always preferred being unique to adorable anyway." It was impossible to not hear the honesty in her voice, but you could see the Russians although incredibly proud of her were waiting for something. Her gaze flicked back to Ming-Ming and she smiled honestly, to which Ming-Ming happily beamed back. "So you can be Cutie Queen, and I wish you a long and nervous-breakdown-free reign. I'd much rather…" She pivoted on the spot to face the staff room again.

"Be ridiculously, utterly, uniquely fabulously awesome instead." Leaving every jaw in the room on the floor, she laughed swinging her hips as she strutted out. It took the Russians a moment to start laughing as well, realising how brilliantly executed a plan that truly was. She'd had that whole speech planned right from the start, but just needed a good excuse to share it. They knew she didn't mean the last bit, sort of. Her ego could rival Tyson's at its best; but she had had little self-confidence so it never usually got this far. _We'll let her have her fun. _When it finally clicked for the rest of the room that she was just kidding to a degree, they laughed too. Ming-Ming gave where Charlotte used to be standing a lopsided smile. _She might actually be someone who's worth the effort it's going to take to win over._ She turned back to the audience and bowed again. _But I guess we'll just have to wait and see, won't we Ms Ridiculously, Utterly, Uniquely Fabulously Awesome? _

**And that's the end of Tomboy! This one I had to rewrite quite a bit because I didn't want Charlotte to sound too up herself, but then again a bit of pride every now and again isn't a bad thing! Anyway, please review! In the next chapter we'll get down to some more musical numbers, Caramelldansen with Charlotte and Max and perhaps a lesbian-tango-moment! **

**Want to know what I mean? Then REVIEW TO FIND OUT! **

**Since there was no Russian D: in this chapter there's no glossary needed! The song she danced to is Baby Maniacs by Hatsune Miku (look it up, it's awesome), but I'm sure Kai could have told you that XD **

***evil laugh* See you next chappie! **

**AND REVIEW PLEASE! REVIEW! :D :D :D **


	6. Sweet Tooth

6. Sweet Tooth

**HELLO once more ladies and gentlemen! I bring you new chapter! Yes, this one's gonna be a good one! :D :D **

**Max: *sweatdrops* Are you trying to sound like Mama Odie from The Princess and the Frog? **

**Rose: *realises this and laughs* No, but I guess that's a good excuse! Now Maxie, are you ready for… *drum rolls on knees* Caramelldansen? **

**Max: *grins brightly nodding* YEAH! WOHOOO! GO CARAMELLDANSEN! :D :D :D **

**Rose: *sweatdrops smiling* Save some energy for the chapter Maxie. There's a LOT going on! **

**Max: *nods brightly* Oh yeah that's right, we've got lesbian-tango and *gets his mouth covered by Rose***

**Rose: Well, you'll all just have to read to find out! Maxie, can you disclaimer? *takes hand off his mouth***

**Max: *nods* MisstiqueRose does not own Beyblade or any or the songs or other things she mentions, she only owns her OC! *grins brightly***

**Rose: *pats his head* Good boy! **

"Speaking"

_Thinking_

"_Speaking in Russian (or another language)" – written in English_

"_**Phonetic Russian/Chinese pinyin (will be translated at the bottom)"**___

**ON WITH THE STORY!**

Julia smiled as she watched Charlotte breezily skip from table to table taking orders and returning drinks, she'd gotten changed from her Baby Maniacs attire and was now back to waitressing with such brightness it was hard not to like her. It was hard to dislike Charlotte in general, or at least for her it was; she was one of those people who just liked making other people smile, her relaxed nature made her seem so calm but there definitely was some spunk in those eyes. _Hard to believe I've only known her for about a week, and yet I feel like I've known her for years. This is definitely a first._ Tucking some of her two tone auburn fringe behind her ear she turned back to those at her table. King and Queen were off in their own little world, communicating with each other as if there was no one else there. She sighed as her twin brother fidgeted with some of his hair too. _Are Raul and I like that around other people? God I hope not, it's so antisocial._ She smiled at her brother, and as if reading her mind he smiled back. "Don't worry; I don't think we're quite that bad. Most of the time, anyway." They both laughed and Julia realised how much more confident Raul had become recently.

She had brought Raul with her once to the house the Russians shared on her boyfriend, Tala's, orders, his only reasoning being 'He won't get lonely, I promise'. There may or may not have been the promise of a late-night make-out session to sweeten the deal, but Raul didn't need to know that. The fact she'd been asked to bring Raul along to her boyfriend's place when Raul was petrified at the thought of even seeing them at all mentally went off as Red Alert Number One but she brushed it aside. Anyway, she'd brought Raul along as Tala had asked much to Raul's utter dismay, rang the doorbell as you do and that's where things went a little strange. Instead of the arguing and swearing in Russian that usually accompanies the doorbell, there was a cheery "I'll get it!"

Red Alert Number Two, and now she was a little worried. Had she gotten the right place? Surely they hadn't moved… The door opened after a moment interrupting Julia's train of thought. "Oh hey there! You must be Julia and Raul; it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Charlotte, come on in!" Standing in the doorway was a girl not much older than them and about the same height as Julia in heels. A bright cheery smile graced her face all the way up to a pair of warm jade eyes. She was just in a pair of jeans and a white singlet with a bird and its nest printed on it. Needless to say, this was Red Alert Number Three and now Julia was seriously rethinking her decision to cave in to her boyfriend. _Goddamn him and his sexiness!_ "Tala's told me so much about you, when I can force it out of him of course!" She laughed and Julia felt Raul's hand ease slightly from its incredibly tense state holding her own. He was beginning to relax a little as she moved out of the way of the door to let them in. Julia smiled; perhaps her crazy lunatic of a boyfriend knew what he was doing after all.

They followed Charlotte inside, where she asked them a little about themselves after inviting them to sit down. She seemed interested in them, especially the fact they were twins ("Do you ever get stupid questions like 'what's it like being a twin?' I hate that, you can't answer it!") and their accents which she was rather excited about ("I'm sorry, I've never heard anyone who sounds like you guys before, it's awesome!"). Usually such a child-like questioning would have annoyed hot-headed Julia who would've much preferred to be somewhere else than with annoying fans, but for some reason Julia didn't mind it. Perhaps it was the way she split her time equally between the two of them, asking Raul random questions just as much as she asked her.

When they told her they had been part of a circus her eyes lit up like a child's and she begged them to demonstrate. Julia did so proudly, but she couldn't understand where such pride came from. Usually there was a sense of overconfidence when she performed, not honest pride in herself. Perhaps it came from watching Charlotte's eyes fill with wonder with each step. She was undeniably fascinated with Julia's movements; after Julia had finished she tried her best to mimic some of her flexibility feats, some she was able to but after a few she fell over onto her butt. Instead of being miserable or pained however, she laughed realising how silly she must've looked.

She was so open and honest, right from the moment Julia met her. Nothing about her was hidden, off-limits, untouchable. She was who she was, and she didn't care who knew. It was something Julia found intriguing, and she smiled back at Charlotte honestly for the first time in quite a while as she helped her up. An idea came to mind and Julia offered to teach her, Raul piped up and joined in much to her surprise. He seemed just as impressed with their newfound friend as she was, even more so when Charlotte remembered they'd come to see Tala. "Oh man, I'm sorry! You guys were here for Tala and I've just been bugging you about circus tricks! Sorry! I'll go get Tala, be right back!" She jumped off the couch, ducked her head around the corner into where the stairs were to the boy's rooms and yelled at the top of her voice. "_Tala! You have visitors! Get your lazy ass down here now! Or should I just tell your pretty girlfriend to leave?" _Neither Julia nor Raul even had a remote inkling of what she was yelling in Russian but it didn't sound very nice though so they assumed it must not be very positive. The reply was wasn't much better, harsh but resigned.

"_For fuck's sake, I'm coming! No need to be so rude! Bryan's obviously been teaching you a little too well!" _Neither of them understood the reply but they assumed from the tone she was paraphrasing. She rolled her eyes at this and grinned back at Raul and Julia who watched as she leaned against the wall impatiently waiting for Tala to arise from his afternoon nap, something he didn't often do but it was almost impossible to wake him up if he did, occasionally shooting them a big grin. _She's known me five minutes and yet she smiles at me as if I'm her best friend! I don't understand it, why is she so friendly? It's so strange…_

Julia paused and smiled a little.

…_actually it's kind of nice. _  
>"He says he's on his way. Knowing him, we'll be waiting another ten minutes." Charlotte was careful to tilt her head so she was partially yelling down the corridor. An indignant growl seeped back in reply and she smirked cheekily. "Well that worked. He'll be out soon." Julia recognised that smirk, that cheeky lilt in her eyes and couldn't help but liken her to Tala. But, the more she thought about it, saying she was like Tala alone wasn't exactly correct. She embodied more than just Tala's cool somewhat mischievous demeanour. Now she just had to work out what, and who it was from.<p>

_She's like a hybrid of every fun quirk from the most varied group of people in the room, and I guess that's why she's so entertaining. _Her eyes flicked to a happy Raul, who was now chatting with Lee of the White Tigers as they were seated at the table closest to him. For the first time he wasn't shying away and just letting Julia take over, but he was actually being himself and enjoying it. _It's so good for him, I'm so proud. He's finally growing up… _

Shaking off her insecurities about losing him, Julia smiled as she'd remembered the rest of that day. Tala, when he'd finally gotten himself downstairs, explained he'd asked her to bring Raul along to help teach Charlotte to dance as he was too tired to do so today. Charlotte had rolled her eyes and muttered something in Russian; it clearly wasn't very positive as Tala spun around and tapped her lightly on the nose, his tone reprimanding her for whatever she'd said. Watching the two of them was like watching siblings from one of those unrealistic sitcom shows Raul really liked but she couldn't stand. They just acted so cheekily and yet caringly around each other. Suddenly Charlotte remembered something and she rushed off into the kitchen without even a second thought. Tala laughed as she ran, and spun around to face Raul who was watching her dash off in a bit of a daze. "Let's have a little…" he paused and smirked carnivorously at Raul, who suddenly remembered why he had been petrified at the concept of coming here. "Man to man, shall we?"

Tala dragged a pleading Raul off into the other room as Julia could only watch unsure, but she had a feeling Tala just liked to scare Raul till he wet himself. Charlotte returned moments later, carrying with her a giant jar that was filled to the brim with bright colours but what was actually inside Julia couldn't make out. Grinning Charlotte opened the jar, scooped up a small handful of its contents and offered it to Julia. She nearly laughed at what she saw; they were jellybeans, lots and lots of bright coloured jellybeans. She'd never admitted it to anyone, but Julia had enormous sweet tooth and so she gladly took the jellybeans from Charlotte, who reached in and grabbed her own handful. She met Julia's eyes, put the entire handful in her mouth and put a finger to her lips. "Please don't tell Spencer!" Her eyes were full of adorable pleading and Julia decided in that moment she looked like Mariah when she wanted something, puppy dog eyes and all. "He'll kill me if he finds out I know where he keeps them! I'm eating them now because he's not here!" Julia almost choked on her jellybeans from laughter. But what had really made her laugh was Charlotte's little rant about why she should be allowed to eat them, ending on "It's not my fault I love sweet things!"

Julia had heard that indignant but childish line somewhere before… It clicked suddenly. _Max!_ That time she'd caught Max scarfing choc-chip cookies in the cupboard where he hoped no one would find him and he'd pleaded with her not to tell anyone; his team-mates wanted him on a sugar-free diet and would destroy him if they found out. He'd looked like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar, literally! Julia had agreed to the vow of silence on the condition she got some of the cookies, childish but effective. _She's so like Max it's incredible, perhaps I can apply the same principle here…_ Julia's eyes filled with a dark kind of pleasure and Charlotte knew whatever Julia wanted was NOT going to be fun. "I promise I won't breathe a word of this to Spencer, but on one condition." _Here it comes; _Charlotte thought ruefully but nodded all the same.  
>"Name your price."<br>"Tell me where he keeps them so I can have some whenever I want." Charlotte sighed with relief and smiled gorgeously. That wasn't too hard a condition.  
>"Sure, follow me!"<p>

Charlotte led her to the kitchen where she clambered up on top of the bench and rose up onto the balls of her feet with a surprising amount of ease. _She clearly does this often, not just getting the jellybeans but standing on her tiptoes. Does she do it because she likes being tall? _Julia grinned sheepishly internally. _That's why I do it. It's pretty fun being above everyone else. _She watched as Charlotte opened a small cupboard almost hidden from view and neatly tucked the giant jar in there. Gently, she tapped the cupboard indicating to Julia 'that's where they are'. Julia nodded as Charlotte lightly hopped down and grinned putting a finger to her lips. Accidentally Charlotte knocked over the remote for the radio on her way down, which began to play '_Te Amo'_ by Rihanna. They both looked at one another; Charlotte held out her hand dramatically, and in her best seductive voice (which only succeeded in making Julia laugh, especially after Charlotte dubbed it her 'pedo voice') asked Julia a question she didn't expect but couldn't say no to.

"Care to dance?"

Raul and Tala didn't come out of their man-to-man for another hour and when they did they were surprised to find Charlotte and Julia dramatically and somewhat foolishly tangoing around the room to a Latin CD with Julia speaking the steps for them both. It took everything Tala and Raul had not to burst out laughing but their tiny chuckles were enough to alert the two tango-ers to their audience, and so without ever saying a word they decided to put their lessons into practice. Grabbing the boys by the hands, Charlotte grabbing Raul and Julia Tala's they twirled them into a tango much to their shock. Tala quickly picked up on the steps and lead Julia with a fiery passion, but Raul was shy and barely holding Charlotte's hand. After a couple of steps he looked up at her and was greeted with a bright cheery smile. "C'mon Raul. You're supposed to be leading. So lead on! I know you can do it." It was those words, that assured confidence in himself he didn't have, that made him smile. Slowly he began to truly dance, step by step each with more inner fire than the last until finally he had taken to his role. He was leading her, and he was having fun doing it. This was the most confident he'd felt in…well ever!

As the song finished Raul dipped Charlotte back smiling. Charlotte, still being unused to so much intimate male contact, she'd only just gotten over the way Tala danced with her, blushed and looked away for a moment as he gently lifted her back up. Smiling Raul tucked some of her hair behind her ear; he didn't need to speak, their dance said it all. He leaned in closer to an already flustered Charlotte which only served to embarrass and somewhat startle her further. She tried to look at Tala for some kind of guidance, but he and Julia were too busy shoving their tongues down the other's throats. _Gross… _It was at that moment that Bryan walked through the door to bear witness to the scene; Raul leaning close to his little girl with intent to kiss and Tala, he didn't want to know. Spencer chose to come through the back door and on a random whim decided to check the jellybean jar.

All hell had broken loose from that moment on, or as Charlotte had so blatantly put it, "Just another day in the warzone." Needless to say, now Raul feared for his life even seeing Bryan, let alone speaking to him. Julia snapped herself out of her memories to see Charlotte smiling at her. Realising she'd probably zoned out whilst Charlotte was trying to ask her something, she turned back to her and was about to speak when the music began to play. That smooth rhythm, that slow melody…_Te Amo, but how?_ "Care to dance, Julia?" The smile that graced Julia's face was one of mischievous joy.  
>"It would be my pleasure."<p>

They took each other's hands and twirled out into the centre of the room. Julia slid her hand onto Charlotte's waist, for the moment she was leading; Charlotte placed her hand on Julia's shoulder obligingly. Not that they'd ever tell Tala or Raul, but they'd practiced dancing together more than once, whilst Tala was teaching Raul the new steps for Charlotte (_So counter intuitive_, she thought to herself) Julia and Charlotte would work on their routine together. It was now a polished performance piece and they were definitely going to blow away the audience dancing it. Slowly they moved in time with the beat, swirling in and out together in perfect harmony. As the rich voice of Rihanna filled the room, they moved into their tango.

_"Te amo, te amo," she says to me  
>I hear the pain in her voice<br>Then we danced underneath the candelabra, she takes the lead  
>That's when I saw it in her eyes, it's over<em>

Through their dance they told the story; they were acting and they were very good at it. It was as if they totally believed it, or if they didn't they were very good at making it appear otherwise. Tala was speechless – when did they have the time to learn this? …not that he was complaining, of course. Watching his girlfriend dance with his almost sister was… interesting to say the least.

___Then she said "te amo"  
>Then she put her hand around my waist<br>I told her no, she cried "te amo"  
>I told her I'm not gonna run away, but let me go<em>_  
><em>_My soul is awry, without asking why  
>I said, "te amo, wish somebody'd tell me what she said"<br>Don't it mean "I love you"?  
>Think it means "I love you"<br>Don't it mean "I love you"?_

Most of the audience were male, and so they were really enjoying watching two girls tango. _Horny bastards, _thought Charlotte and Julia at almost the same time. The fact Julia was in a long red dress that split all the way up to mid her right thigh with strappy red heels and a rose woven into her hair was not helping their case. Regardless they soldiered on. _Good for them! _Mariah smiled watching them. She knew they were acting and could see they were having slight difficulties with focus because of the leers they were getting. They had reversed their positions, now Charlotte was leading Julia.

___Te amo, te amo, she's scared to breathe  
>I hold her hand, I got no choice<br>Pulled me out on the beach, danced in the water, I start to leave  
>She's begging me and asking why it's over<em>

___Then she said "te amo"  
>Then she put her hand around my waist<br>I told her no, she cried "te amo"  
>I told her I'm not gonna run away, but let me go<em>_  
><em>_My soul is awry, without asking why  
>I said, "te amo, wish somebody'd tell me what she said"<br>Don't it mean "I love you"?  
>Think it means "I love you"<br>Don't it mean "I love you"?_

___Listen we can dance, but you gotta watch your hands  
>Watch me all night, I'm movin' to the light because I understand<br>That we all need love and I'm not afraid  
>I feel the love, but I don't feel that wa-<em>

Just as Charlotte and Julia leaned in closer as if to kiss, and their male-dominated audience leaned forward in anticipation, the song suddenly changed. Ian had been leaning so far off the balcony to see what was going on he'd accidentally knocked the controls. He received a lot of verbal abuse for that, especially from Tala and quiet curses muttered from Kai. The dancers met each other's eyes, accepting their routine was cut short, and shrugged. Charlotte quietly offered Julia some jellybeans as compensation for not being able to finish the dance; her apron was half-full of them! Julia happily accepted a handful and sauntered back over to her table to have a Spanish chat with Raul about, funnily enough, jellybeans.

Just as Charlotte was about to pop some of her sweet jelly beans into her mouth, she realised what song had begun to play and ran over to the Breaker's table. Breathless she met Max's gaze and he practically jumped out of his chair. Their cried chorus nearly had Tyson in stiches; "CARAMELLDANSEN!" They almost dragged one another out into the centre of the room before in perfect sync unlike anything the audience had ever seen before they began to dance the Caramelldansen. Even King and Queen, whose speciality was synchronised routines, were rather impressed. Hilary and Mariah squealed with delight and ran out to join them, funnily enough so did Mathilda and Salima.

The little group danced together and when the chorus rolled around they all did the Caramelldansen hip-shake/hand-ear-thing. Yu and Madoka jumped up to dance with them even though all Yu actually could do of the dance was the chorus. It didn't really matter because he looked adorable anyway, but Madoka actually was able to do the full dance as well. Even Ian was getting in on the act from the DJ station and Bryan just laughed. He knew the dance off by heart, Charlotte had taught him whilst teaching herself, but there was a line as to how un-masculine a guy like him could appear, even with a female friend like Charlotte and Caramelldansen in public was way past that line. Rei understood this too and wasn't sure whether to be proud or embarrassed for his team-mate as he happily danced with a whole group of girls and a small boy. "He's having fun, there's no need to be ashamed of him Rei. That dance is actually rather hard to master, it's a decent accomplishment especially for someone as attention-deficit as Max." Kai spoke out, much to Rei's shock but then he smiled. Kai had a point; _Max is having fun,_ _who am I to stop him? _

As the song finished they all hi-fived and Max gave Charlotte a huge hug which Charlotte happily returned. She hugged everyone else there, ("Sorry, I'm a hugger" was the sheepish excuse before she hugged Mathilda who actually laughed and hugged her back) before she skipped over to Bryan to see which table's orders were ready. Ian returned the music to a light jazz, _Heaven knows where he gets this music from, _Charlotte laughed to herself as Bryan handed her the orders for Gen Gen Galaxy before tapping her nose. Wide jade eyes looked up at the lilac haired Russian, who beamed and held something out for her, a couple of jellybeans! Grinning she opened her mouth, her hands were full due to the tray, and he happily popped them in her mouth before placing a few into her apron. She beamed back at him, now chewing on the jellybeans and skipped off to give Gen Gen Galaxy their orders.

Or at least, that had been the plan.

"What kind of drug has he been feeding you?" All eyes flicked to the source of the voice, Ozuma of the Saint Shields. He stood up from his chair and Mariam mentally face-palmed as he walked over to interrogate Charlotte, who looked over at Mariam as if to say 'please tell me he's kidding'. Mariam mouthed an apology which Charlotte accepted, smiling slightly in response. Everyone was slightly interested to see what Ozuma's crackpot theory was. Ozuma began to rant again once he got closer to her. "Every time you go over there, he feeds you something! And whatever it is obviously improves your mood or something because you're always smiling! That's not natural! So what's he giving you?" Mariam sighed, obviously Ozuma had conveniently forgotten about Max's cheery demeanour towards life and how similar the two were. Hoping for some kind of response he waited focusing on Charlotte. She thought for a moment, reaching into her apron as if looking for something.  
>"Did you want to know because you're concerned for my well-being," She looked curiously at Ozuma who was unable to respond as she placed the tray she was holding down next to her. "Or because he's making your drinks and could possibly spike them?"<p>

_Crap, she shouldn't have said that. _Mariam whacked her head against the table about four times before groaning as the realisation dawned on Ozuma. But before Ozuma could go around spreading his strange theory, she held out her hand to him, in it there were the jellybeans Bryan had given her. Ozuma looked down in shock, what were those? Were they drugs?  
>"These are jellybeans; Bryan's been giving them to me for two reasons." She raised one finger and popped a jellybean in her mouth much to the absolute horror of Ozuma. "One, they're a reward for not killing anyone. Bryan says if he were in my position at least five of you would be dead by now, so he thinks it's a good effort to not have hit anyone but the vampire." Grinning she continued on as everyone in the room slowly looked to Bryan who grinned back at them maliciously. Needless to say, the entire room felt shivers down their spine. "With that said, I'm more patient than Bryan plus I don't know many of you so I can't really hate you yet." She popped a couple more jellybeans in her mouth as Ozuma, who had just recovered from the shock of the last time, nearly fainted. "And two, they're to help me stay awake."<br>"Aha! So they are drugs!" The entire hall of people face-palmed in unison.  
>"No, they're full of sugar. Usually I'm in bed by now so Bryan's doing his best to keep me up. " She beamed at Bryan, who beamed back.<br>"How do we know they're not drugged? You might be under the influence of drugs, or immune to whatever's in them or-" _My god, somebody's been watching too many crime-dramas! He's borderline psychotic! _Charlotte rolled her eyes, as did Mariam. Of course he'd ruin their nice evening with his conspiracy theories; he nearly ruined everything else with it. _We can't see movies, we can't go out, and he's nearly killed this competition a couple of times because of it! Why can't he just learn to relax every once in a while, not everyone's out to get him. _

Turning to Mariam, Charlotte made a motion for her to come up. "Since your friend obviously isn't going to believe me until I test them out on a subject other than myself, do you want a jellybean… Mariam, wasn't it?" Mariam nodded with a small smile. "Pleasure to meet you Mariam, I'm Charlotte." Holding out the hand that didn't contain jelly beans she shook Mariam's hand warmly. _She is definitely a female Max, there's no doubt about it. _Mariam smiled back at her happily. _No wonder I like her so much. _Gratefully Mariam took a blue jellybean, glared at Ozuma and popped it in her mouth as Ozuma held back a silent scream. Mariam stood there for a moment, smiled at Charlotte and looked over at Ozuma.  
>"Nothing, okay? Get over yourself! Now go and sit back down right this minute." Mariam's demand was sheepishly obeyed as Ozuma apologized for his craziness and trudged back over to his seat. Smiling she walked over to him and placed a red jellybean in his hand.<br>"It won't kill you, I promise."

Spencer had been quietly processing all this information over in his seat. Silently fuming at Bryan, he stood up and let out the single angriest Russian rant anyone could ever have thought up. "_Bryan how dare you keep feeding her sweets? You absolute idiot! I thought we agreed special occasions only! You've got to stop spoiling her!" _The room fell silent as everyone looked over at Bryan who out of nowhere began to laugh.  
><em><span>"Oh come on Spencer, if anyone spoils her here it's you. She could ask for anything and you'd give it to her without a word of protest. <span>_So stop blaming me _**b'rat daragwi (1)**_, what the kid said was right. She deserves a medal for putting up with…" Bryan didn't really finish his sentence, just waved his hand in the air nonchalantly much to the indignation of everyone. "Besides, it's not like a few jellybeans are going to do her any harm. Just relax, Spence; you're not her mother." Sighing Spencer hung his head defeated and mumbled acceptance, but clearly was not happy. Something about that Bryan's last point had struck a chord with him, he wasn't her mother…

He felt someone tapping his shoulder, and he slowly looked up to see Charlotte smiling at him. Her smile wavered slightly when she glanced at his face and Spencer knew she was going to try and keep smiling anyway even though she hated seeing him like this. She held out her hand slowly, offering it to Spencer. He looked at her hand and saw a small love heart, made out of blue jellybeans. "The blue ones are your favourite, right?" Spencer nodded slowly, secretly he was incredibly touched by the gesture, and happily she placed the jellybeans into his hand. "You have them then. I've probably eaten enough to last me a lifetime, or at least till tomorrow!" She laughed a little, but Spencer didn't laugh along; his eyes just skimmed the jellybeans sadly.

"Spencer," Storm grey met sparkling jade and he smiled a little. She wasn't giving up on making him smile; it was one of the many things he adored about her. "You might not be my mother, but you're the best big brother a girl could ask for." Silence filled the air as the entire room waited for some kind of reaction out of Spencer.  
>"Thanks darling, I'm glad you think so." Smiling once again, he popped the blue jellybeans in his mouth with a wink. Charlotte looked so pleased to see him happy, and then she remembered she had one jellybean left in her apron. With a grin that could rival the Cheshire Cat, she skipped over to Kai and the Breakers and Spencer watched her fascinated. <em>What's she up to?<em> She checked the colour of the jellybean, and making sure nobody else saw it, she sauntered over to Kai who regarded her uncaringly. "Betcha can't guess this one." There was a childish taunting in her voice and Kai smirked. _So she wants to play again, huh? Fine by me, game on! _Slowly Kai shut his eyes, to anybody else it would look as if he was trying to ignore her but she knew otherwise. Kai held out his hand, to accept the jellybean but for some reason she held onto it still grinning. He opened one eye and looked at her with confusion, opening his mouth to voice something.

Not that he got to though, because as soon as he opened his mouth, she neatly fed him the jellybean much to his embarrassment. A hush engulfed the room as Kai slowly chewed the jellybean, trying to fight the blush that had risen to his cheeks. He swallowed, paused for a moment and then turned to her. "Green," her eyes widened and then she began to laugh.  
>"Goddamit, why are you so good at this game?"<p>

**Ladies and gents that brings us to the end of Sweet Tooth :D :D God I love Caramelldansen! :3 So much so I had to include it with Max! **

**There's more strangeness to come, like Kai and Charlotte's Jellybean Challenge! **

**Here's the one bit of Russian I used! **

_**b'rat daragwi (1) – brother dearest **_

**Who likes JELLYBEANS? If you review, you get some from Spencer's stash! :D :D :D **

**SO REVIEW! **


	7. Hero

7. Hero

**Chapter 7 folks! Wohoo! I'm on a ROLL! Thanks so much for the reviews, especially Rangerapprentice and Nazrita who've been consistently reviewing since Artist, and even before! :D Love the support guys! Sorry about the delay, haven't had brilliant internet connection for quite a while! :D Anyway, not going to overdo the author's note this chapter; let it speak for itself so here goes! **

**Brooklyn: Wow, shortest author note so far. I'm impressed Rose. **

**Rose: Where the heck did you come from?**

"Speaking"

_Thinking_

"_Speaking in Russian (or another language)" – written in English_

"_**Phonetic Russian/Chinese pinyin (will be translated at the bottom)"**___

**Now on with the chapter!**

Oh Kai was in for it now. Why did he have to accept her challenge? And why did she insist on feeding it to him? Okay, he had to admit that was his favourite part of their game but still! "So Kai, what's this _game _you're so good at?" Tyson's cocky voice was filled with amusement, that cynical/curious/amused blend that only appears when quizzing an arch rival on a trait no one knew they had. In this case, it was Kai's ability to predict the jellybean colour, and or the fact he played this game with her in the first place. The concept of Kai playing a guessing game with jellybeans was truly a foreign one to the Breakers, who barely even saw him smile let alone be willing to participate in something. Usually Kai would've remained silent, Tyson would give up eventually. _Scratch that, he'd forget and then something would make him remember and then he'd keep pestering me until he got his answer, _Kai sighed internally. He snuck a furtive glance at Charlotte, trying so hard not to remind Tyson she'd probably answer his question but still make sure she knew he was uncomfortable.

Unfortunately for Kai, after years of practice of dealing with him his entire team refocused their attention to her just from that one glance, but she didn't seem to mind. "So Charlotte, you said Kai was good at a game. What is this game?" Tyson asked again, this time he sounded a little nicer towards her. After all, she wasn't Kai; she didn't need the arch-rival quizzing voice.  
>"I'm more curious as to how the two of you have met before this, and why Kai didn't mention you before." Rei's inquiry sparked a small murmur of interest around the entire room, but Hilary made a mental note that Charlotte glanced at Kai and she looked… sad? Kai shot back what seemed to be an apologetic gaze which was even more surprising before returning to his neutral state.<br>"Kai, did you just look… sorry as you glanced at her? I didn't even think that was possible!" Disbelief echoed through Kenny's voice and Kai tried to hide his head, embarrassed. The rest of the team looked equally shocked, with Daichi jumping up pointing an accusing finger at Kai.  
>"Alright, who are you and what have you done with our sourpuss?" It took everything Charlotte had not to burst out laughing. As Rei began his hypothesis however, her muted laughter died down and was replaced with the far more sinister sound of silence.<p>

"Chief, here's my theory. We all know Kai goes to visit the Russians once or twice a week, depending on what he feels like. He's been doing that basically since the competition began four months ago." There was a communal nod among the Breakers, and the Blitzkriegs began to smirk to themselves; they knew what was coming, _have fun digging your way out of this one Kai. You certainly got yourself into one hell of a mess. _Rei turned to Charlotte with a polite smile on his face. He might be playing detective, but that didn't mean he was going to be rude to the waitress. "Charlotte, how long have you known Spencer and the Blitzkriegs for?" Realising it wasn't going to be an interrogation, she relaxed her slightly tensed hands and beamed.  
>"Uh, three months? A little more than that?" She didn't sound entirely sure, but that was probably because she'd forgotten the date today and therefore couldn't calculate how long ago she met them. A cat-like smirk crossed Rei's face and Kai silently began to worry.<br>"And I imagine you come over to their house pretty often, correct?" She nodded brightly. "So, one of those times you must have run into Kai, correct?" She grinned nodding, but indicated there was more to the story than just a simple 'he was there and so was I'.

"Orange juice." The reverberation of confusion made her smirk.  
>"I met Kai because of orange juice." Since everyone still looked confused, she decided to elaborate.<br>"Well, you see, in the Blitzkrieg's house, there are two rules regarding the fridge."

_*Flashback* _

"Rule One, kid." Bryan exclaimed putting a manly hand on her shoulder. Listening intently she smiled, now that she'd been coming over for about a month the boys had let her have fridge privileges, something they had yet to grant Ian after he'd gone too far with midnight snacking. "When you take something out, it must always go back in unless it is finished. Then it must be thrown out, or as Spencer would like us to try and remember to do, recycle." She nodded; it wasn't like she didn't do that at home already. He continued on, his voice still sombre. "Rule Number Two. Do not, I repeat, _do NOT _drink anything from the bottom shelf of the fridge door." Bryan stressed this quite clearly, even repeating the words in Russian to get the message across. He smiled a little at her confusion so he decided to show her. Lining said cursed shelf there were lots of bottles Charlotte recognised as some form of alcohol or another, and then a few strange looking ones. "You see, there's a lot of alcohol here and you're our little girl and shouldn't be pissed off your face, so no drinking! Got it?" She laughed as he wagged his index finger scoldingly in her face but nodded all the same. He grinned at her response. "Good! Now, you want some cookie dough? Spencer always keeps some round here somewhere…"

Later on Bryan was channel surfing with a half-asleep Charlotte on his lap, Ian was downstairs intensely gaming, Spencer was doing the laundry (he was the only one who hadn't blown up the washing machine when he touched it so he was in charge of the appliances) and Tala was about to collect a friend of his to bring back over for a drink. Tala had not specified who it was he was collecting, leaving only with a sharp _"Spencer, you're in charge. Bryan, take care of the kid and Shrimp, don't touch my stuff."_ Charlotte yawned a sleepy goodbye that had made him smile as he walked out the door before resting her head on Bryan's chest again. Smiling Bryan kept flicking through the channels leisurely, until he hit a channel showing WWE. For those of you who don't know, Bryan loves WWE, the excuse to watch people beat each other up and then go and beat up Shrimp (Ian) if he felt like it was the best! He practically jump-started to life, yelling suddenly and jumping off the couch making a now wide-awake Charlotte fall to the ground. Muttering angry Russian curses she'd learnt from listening to Ian play CoD under her breath, she shook herself off and went to the fridge; _may as well get a drink since I'm up_.

Opening up the fridge she noticed a container of orange juice in the fridge door. It was unopened with a small sticky note attached that had something in _**Cyrillic**_(1) written on it, but since she still had difficulty with Cyrillic despite Ian's best efforts she ignored the message assuming it probably had the use-by date on it (Spencer did that to remind the boys not to drink old milk as both Bryan and Tala had once, the results had not been pretty). Humming Katy Perry's _'Part Of Me' _she got herself a glass from the top draw ("Those ones are for you so be careful with them, Spencer _hates_ broken glass" was Bryan's nonchalant warning) and happily downed a glass of orange juice before putting it back where she'd found it and placing her glass in the sink. Spencer, upon realising the laundry was finished for now (four Russian teenage boys in one house, the laundry never ends) went to get a drink but nearly had a panic attack when he opened the fridge. The orange juice, Kai's orange juice, was open and someone had just drunk from it.

The one rule Bryan had forgotten to tell Charlotte was that any orange juice in the house was immediately property of Kai Hitawari; no one else can drink it. On a bad day anyone who drank Kai's orange juice was lucky to not be beaten into a coma; on a good day the same applied. Spencer spotted the glass in the sink, _Charlotte's the only one who leaves her glasses by the…_ _Oh no, she didn't, she wouldn't… unless she didn't know!_ Storming over with more power than an army tank, Spencer grabbed Bryan who was mimicking the WWE fighters as best he could by himself. A sudden fast-paced argument in Russian followed which Charlotte couldn't quite translate for herself, so she went downstairs, literally threw Ian over her shoulder much to his annoyance and walked back up. "Ian, what are they saying? Spencer ran in here five minutes ago and started yelling at Bryan, and you know when Bryan gets yelled at he yells back. They're speaking too fast for me, but you understand them. So what's going on?" Ian's face paled and he began to hyperventilate, clearly not listening to her question.

She guided Ian over to the couch and got him a paper bag, meanwhile Spencer and Bryan had begun to calm down after some explaining on both ends. Two pairs of worried eyes fell to her but she didn't turn around and her mind began rapidly replaying the day's events to see what could have possibly led to this. She heard someone draw in a deep breath behind her, she guessed from the angle the sound came from it was Spencer, and then exhale slowly. _Uh oh, Spencer's mad! Is he mad at me? Ohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrap!_ Now seriously worried Charlotte turned around; a deer in headlights. "D-Did I do something wrong?" A gentle smile crossed Spencer's face, and he gave her a hug.  
>"You didn't, <span>Bryan <span>on the other hand has a lot to answer for." He stressed the violet haired Russian's name and glared at him violently, Bryan in response sort of shrunk back out of shame. "You see, the friend Tala's going to bring over, Kai, he really likes orange juice. So I always buy some for him,"  
>"And he gets in a really bitchy mood when there isn't any!" Ian finally stuttered out cutting Spencer off. Confusion crossed Charlotte's face.<br>"But there's heaps left; I only had one glass. I can't drink a whole two litre bottle on my own, well not in one sitting anyway!" Ian shook his head and went back to hyperventilating, leaving Spencer and Bryan to try and decide who should explain.

"But I don't like it when people drink my orange juice, no matter how much you had." Another voice entered their conversation, so full of ice it made Charlotte shiver. Spencer pressed her closer to his chest and rose to his full height glaring at the figure in the door. Following Tala was a boy about the same height as him with almost as pale skin, two tones of hair colour – the front was a slate-grey and the back was deep cobalt blue, four blue triangles painted onto his face and crimson eyes. As those same crimson eyes regarded her again she felt her face burn and she turned away, but she wasn't sure why. The tension was thick as the stranger, who she assumed was Kai made his way inside, walked over to the fridge, got out his orange juice and poured himself a glass saying nothing.

_His eyes, they're like staring into pools of blood, _she thought to herself still gently holding Spencer, _or garnets, such a deep rich red colour. Almost like roses…wait, did I just compare his eyes to roses? _She mentally slapped herself. _If I'm going to compare anything to a red rose, it'll be my cheeks in a minute. Goddammit, that's not much better. _So wrapped up in her mental debate about what object his eyes were a similar colour to she barely noticed him return and stare at her. Funnily enough, he was having a similar process of thought about her eyes. _They're jade, like the crystals. _He paused, almost satisfied with his answer,_ but there's something more to them… what is it? _

Tala was grinning like a lunatic as he watched the two of them silently size each other up. Charlotte gently let go of Spencer's jumper and was analysing every detail of Kai who was doing the same for her, although he tried his best to not look it. What Tala found even more hilarious was that neither of them realised the other was staring…  
>"Why're you staring at me? I'm not staring at you! You started it!" Or at least they hadn't up until then. In perfect unison they shouted at one another much to the amusement of the remaining Blitzkriegs. <p>

"_Tala you evil genius, you set them up!"  
>"No shrimp, that's the power of destiny. I just brought Kai along; it's sheer luck that Charlotte found the orange juice today."<br>"Still, it's pretty funny the way they're acting. I don't think I've ever seen Kai so…not Kai around a girl before! It's hilarious to see him so flustered!"  
>"Like you're any better Shrimp! You freeze up when you speak to anything remotely female! No wonder Charlotte can't read Cyrillic, it's because you're too shy to actually TEACH her!"<br>"Maybe we could get Kai to teach her; if she can put up with you and Tala I have a feeling she could take on Kai no problem."  
>"Plus they get to spend lots of alone time together!"<br>"That's brilliant! Now, how to convince Kai…"  
>"I don't think that should be a problem Ian, look at them!" <em>

Spencer was right to say look, now Charlotte and Kai were within arm's reach of one another, but for a different reason than the Blitzkriegs' thought. Kai was translating their conversation for Charlotte, because they'd started speaking too fast for her to understand on her own. In return she'd flashed him a bright cheery smile that had disconcerted him but made him feel… warm inside? _It's not necessarily a bad thing, is it? The Breakers keep telling me I need to open up more often… _He gave her the tiniest hint of an honest smile in return. Maybe he'd finally found someone to share his orange juice with after all.

_*Time Skip* About a month later_

"A babysitter, Tala? Seriously?" Charlotte looked disbelievingly at Tala, who nodded cheekily. Standing before her once more was the infamous Kai, but this time he looked far less foreboding in a pair of faded jeans and a white shirt with the sleeves ripped off, arms hidden by a black leather jacket with a white scarf flowing behind him. But that wasn't what made him so less frightening; it was the somewhat sheepish yet defeated expression on his face as if he'd been dragged here by force. No longer fearing him, he'd been over a couple of times after their initial encounter; Charlotte met his crimson eyes once more and reluctantly accepted his arrival with a smile which he slightly returned. Tala smiled pulling on his own jacket over his grey striped shirt and black skinny jeans before calling out to the remaining Blitzkriegs to get their asses into gear if they wanted to go out anytime soon. Spencer appeared first – nice white and green plaid shirt and cream slacks had been donned for the occasion, giving his little girl a quick cuddle before standing over next to Tala. Bryan appeared next – red dress shirt half open with dark jeans and a leather jacket, the look completed with some aviators before reaching behind him and grabbing Ian who he slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Once Ian had been chucked down Spencer insisted he tuck in his black shirt into his faded jeans much to his disgust. Sighing he pulled the red plaid flannelette shirt he had on over his black one closer to his body to hide his untucked shirt.

They all looked presentable which felt strange to Charlotte as she was so used to their normal boyish attire. Gently they all said goodbyes giving her a few instructions and warnings, they were going out for Ian's birthday and he wanted to go out drinking, therefore meaning Charlotte couldn't come. Even though she'd told them she didn't mind staying at her own home that night to prevent them the worry of her being at their home alone, they'd insisted she come over regardless and now she knew why. Inviting Kai in with a silent wave of the hand she reassured them once more that she'd be fine. As they walked out the door and Kai in, she let out the least audible of sighs and she slowly shut the door behind him.

Smirking Kai made himself comfortable on the couch as she shivered suddenly to herself, hugging her arms close to her body and rubbing them with her hands. It was cold, or at least to her it was cold, to the Russians it was t-shirts and shorts weather. They often teased her about getting cold so easily, but once a heat wave had rolled around she'd gotten her own back. After that, they'd agreed to stop insulting her about her 'cold-bloodedness' and she'd stop insulting them about overheating and being roasted alive. Spencer had told her if she got too cold he had a jumper she could borrow sitting in the laundry so stood up to go get it, but didn't get far before being stopped by Kai.

"Where're you going?" Her head turned towards him and she growled, not in the mood. She was too cold to be nice at the moment.  
>"The laundry. Spencer left me a jumper there." He looked up at her and noticed the goose-bumps on her arm.<br>"You're cold." It was more of a statement than a question and she only glared at him in reply. _Not another Russian teasing me about my lizard-like-blood_, but he didn't say anything. Instead he simply took off his own jacket and tossed it casually at her as if he did this sort of thing all the time. Catching it bewilderedly her eyes alternated between him and the jacket, not sure what he wanted her to do. _Does he want me to hang it up because I'm not the fucking maid, he can do it himself!_ "Put it on. You're cold, aren't you?" It was a command that ended on a somewhat rhetorical but definitely teasing question which she begrudgingly obeyed. His jacket was warm, but she looked at his exposed arms; now he might get cold. "Don't worry about me, Tala's got some stuff I can borrow; or that he's borrowed off me and never given back." He chuckled absently to himself as she tugged the jacket closer around herself and smiled honestly at him.  
>"You might actually have a heart after all Hitawari. <em><strong>Spasibo (2). <strong>_Now you want a jellybean or something?"  
>Surprised crimson eyes flicked to her. "Jellybean?"<br>"Yeah, Spencer's got a massive stash of 'em in a jar! You want one?" A devious smirk crossed his face as he seemed to remember something.  
>"I bet you that I can guess the colour of any jellybean without looking at it." She grinned confidently.<br>"You're on!"

*Present moment*

"And here so we are! One thing he omitted to tell me before we made our bet was that he'd played with Tala dozens of times before, and won every single time." She looked over at him cheekily, and he shrugged as if to say 'well, I am perfect aren't I?' Rolling her eyes with a tiny smile she looked over to Tyson who nodded, processing the facts. Rei's sharp mind already had reached a conclusion, but he decided to say nothing. Daichi on the other hand was not so smart.

"So Kai didn't tell us about you because he's got a crush on you and didn't want us to make fun of him?" Tyson facepalmed, even he knew that uttering such blasphemy would get him killed at the hands of their captain; he'd just think it instead. Said captain glared daggers at the monkey-boy, trying his hardest not to meet the gaze of the inquiring waitress – Hilary quietly noted the faint blush on her cheeks as well as Kai's underneath his war-paint. _War, exactly what this is going to turn into…_ Kai rose up from his seat, the menacing aura emanating from him was enough to make even Rick, who was on the other side of the room, gulp; only six people weren't scared – The Blitzkriegs, Charlotte and funnily enough, Daichi. Although he'd never seen Kai this mad and knew when they went home he was dead, he assumed Hilary's 'you-misbehave-it-will-cost-you-dearly' policy ran for the captain as well as him. That was the last thing on Kai's mind though as he moved suddenly grabbing Daichi with such speed Max and Charlotte looked at one another trying to work out whether they'd actually seen him move.

"Prepare to die, Daichi." Despite his cold monotone it wasn't hard to hear the burning rage in Kai's voice. Now Daichi was freaking out silently begging anyone and everyone to save him from the wrath of Kai. But no one could save him now, so the entire room simply watched in horror; Crusher covering Ming-Ming's eyes so she wouldn't have to witness such a painful torture. Pulling him a headlock Daichi felt the wind began to escape his lungs and desperately tried to breathe to no avail. His face began to go purple as very little oxygen was getting through to his bloodstream… it was getting harder and harder to breathe…  
>"<em><span>Kai, don't kill him." <span>_Charlotte walked over to face him and met his burning garnet gaze with a sense of calm. All eyes watched with bated breaths to see what Kai would do, would he listen to the girl or destroy them both?  
>"<em><span>Why not? He's a pain!" <span>_Kai growled back at her, tightening his grip on Daichi's throat only serving to make Daichi go an even deeper shade of purple. _  
>"That's not a good enough reason and you know it Hitawari. What's your real reason? That he was right?" <span>_His eyes widened as she glared at him again, unimpressed. His shock only lasted for a moment, soon replaced with indignation. Miguel was amazed at her standing up to Kai in a mood like this; _she's definitely one to watch for, standing up to Kai when he's like this is phenomenal! Who does she think she is; a superhero?_ "_If you can't give me a good reason, he lives." _Kai seemed in thought for a moment before grudgingly releasing Daichi, almost throwing him at the ground gasping for air. As soon as Daichi was strong enough to move he ran over behind Charlotte who was officially his hero for saving his life. Gently she handed him back to Hilary and the Breakers before glancing sadly back at Kai. _Wow, she actually hates seeing him like this; _Rei couldn't help but notice the sadness in her eyes as they regarded the dual-toned Russian. Growling quietly Kai refused to meet anyone's gaze as his face burned with rage and humiliation and silence dominated the thick air.

"OH MY LORD, ROBERT IT'S A CATASTROPHE! MY LIFE AS WE KNOW IT IS OVER!" Until Enrique opened his big mouth, that is. Everyone in the room was at various stages of annoyance or shock but somehow Robert remained totally calm.  
>"What seems to be the problem, Enrique?" Wide blue eyes looked back at the German and for a moment Robert thought something serious had actually happened.<br>"I have a PIMPLE!"

And then he remembered it was Enrique he was dealing with. You could almost see the smoke coming out of Johnny's ears and Oliver shrank back into his chair; _Oh Enrique, why did you do that? _Robert sighed as he eyed the panicked Italian over again; there was no sign of a pimple from where he could see – but of course Enrique had to make a big fuss out of nothing. It took Max a moment to contemplate what Enrique had been doing to come up with such a statement and then spotted Enrique's pocket mirror on the Majestics' table and realized he'd probably checked his reflection once the fight had finished to make sure he was still beautiful – he insisted on doing so nearly every ten minutes as if ten minutes can make a huge difference; apparently this time it had. "Where is it?" Robert tiredly enquired; he was not in the mood for Enrique's troublesome trifles. Enrique leaned over and pointed at a tiny red mark on the side of his face, so distraught now he could barely say anything.

He remained in his hyperventilating alarmed state for about five minutes whilst Oliver tried to calm him down to no avail, but nobody else moved except for Johnny who was quietly reminding himself he wasn't allowed to beat up Enrique because he had no hope of fighting back. Mystel fiddled with his favourite knife, he kept one for emergencies, and planned the quietest route over to their table to stab Enrique with it. Lee and Kevin muttered curses in Chinese, Miguel and Julia in Spanish whilst Rick, Rei, Kai, Kyoya, Tsubasa and the remaining All Starz just rolled their eyes. A few groans escaped the Psykicks, the Battalion and the twin's table – King, Queen, Julia and Raul; Bryan shattered another glass behind the bar; and Ian almost fell off the balcony with disbelief at his shallowness. Tyson, Max, Gingka, Kenta and Masamue whacked their heads on their tables, even Hiro – who was supposed to be totally unbiased towards every team mind you, rolled his eyes. Long story short, everyone was pissed at Enrique.

"_Bryan, I know I'm not supposed to kill anyone, but," _It was an infuriated Charlotte, who just didn't want to hear his whining anymore. She'd been over to their table four times and all Enrique had been was a pain in the ass! He seemed to serve no value to society so she thought she'd be doing to world a favour, _"if I were to murder him how long would I be in prison for?"_ Tala nearly died laughing partially because he found the concept of their little girl murdering anyone hilarious and partially because he didn't blame her for wanting to do so. Bryan chuckled to himself looking over at Kai who actually seemed impressed that she was contemplating such an option. He thought it was slightly double-standard but then again, it was Enrique – the only person who could make murder understandable. The annoying blonde himself felt her stony gaze and not quite understanding its subtext began his dramatic display.

"DON'T LOOK AT ME! I'M HIDEOUS!" _Oh the jokes I could make here, _she sighed to herself as he threw himself to the ground and yelled to the skies. "NO ONE WILL EVER LOVE SOMETHING AS UGLY AS ME!" _Here too, he's just making it so easy! _But instead of making a cruel joke at the Italian's expense she walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder causing him to look up at her.  
>"Enrique, the whole idea of love is that someone is supposed to love you for who you are; faults and all. Having one measly pimple isn't going to suddenly render you unlovable," she paused as her message almost got through and smirked to herself as she turned away. "Although your irritating personality might."<p>

Oliver swore he'd never heard Johnny laugh louder in his life.

_*Time skip* About ten minutes later _

"Charlie!" Max waved her over brightly and she skipped over. Her good mood had returned once Enrique had finally gotten over his 'oh-my-God-there's-a-woman-who-doesn't-find-every-iota-of-my-being-attractive' shock and promptly apologized for his behaviour under strict instruction from Robert. Kai had returned to his usual moody state, although his entire table noticed (but were smart enough now to not point out) that he was just that little bit nicer to Charlotte. Spencer had spotted Mystel's knife and, after asking him what it was for; the answer being 'to kill Enrique later', let him keep it with a nod.  
>"What's up Maxie?" It was incredible; they'd only known each other for barely a couple of hours and yet they were acting like they'd known each other forever but it was understandable. Out of everyone there she shared most traits with Max; bright smile, cheery personality, caring and somewhat innocent nature, smiling when they were hurt so no one was burdened with their problems; so it made sense for her to instantly take to him and vice versa. Grinning Max pointed up to the DJ station, where Ian was just sitting back, and once he noticed Max pointing at him, gave a small salute.<br>"Does he take requests?" She smirked and looked up at him.  
>"I dunno, I'll ask." Drawing in a deep breath she yelled out to the DJ station, though unladylike it was rather effective. "<em><span>OI! Shrimp! You taking requests?" <span>_Ian nodded cheerily, excited at the thought of actually doing something and she relayed the good news to Max who then relayed it to the rest of his team with a positive thumbs-up. The Breakers shared some kind of furtive grin or at least everyone but Hilary did; even Kai smirked slightly at the news.  
>"Can we give him a special request?" She got out her notepad to write it down, but Max covered it with his hand causing her to look up at him. "It's gotta be a surprise! The girls don't know, so after we give the request we're getting all the girls over there," He pointed to the table with the Justice Five which furthest from the bar. "So," he almost sang, making a motion to the pen and she sighed smiling.<br>"_**vpered, (3)**_ just don't break it! It's not mine, its Spencer's!" Grinning cheerily he scribbled something down onto the notepad before turning to Tyson.

"Hey Tyson, can you read this?" Tyson tilted his head to the side, then the notepad as he tried to work out what it said.  
>"Honestly Max, no. Here, let me write! My writing's awesome!" Hilary rolled her eyes as Tyson scrawled something down, his writing only a bit better than Max's. Both boys called out to Rei even though he was only about a metre away from them both and clearly resented the lack of respect for his incredibly sensitive ears. Hilary tried to tell them to be more careful, but Rei stopped her clearly used to the treatment and instead turned to two pairs of inquiring eyes as they held out a notepad together.<br>"Hey Rei, can you read this?" Deciding it best to just get over it he took a look at the notepad before titling his head, then the paper as he tried to read Tyson's chicken-scratch writing.  
>"Tyson I'll be honest, it looks like an uncoordinated spider fell into a pot of ink before becoming drunk on the ink and stumbled around blindly all over the page before dying a slow and painful death of ink poisoning." Hilary met Charlotte's gaze and the two laughed as Max and Tyson handed him the pen grudgingly to do better. The girls definitely stopped laughing once they saw Rei's handwriting; each stroke was fluid and delicate as if he were performing calligraphy. Once he'd finished he held up his work proudly to the boys, who hid it from the prying female eyes and applauded such mastery of the pen. Through some miracle of luck and strange forms of intelligence they managed to get the request up to Ian without the girls' seeing it much to their disgust.<p>

Suddenly every male in the room seemed to wake up as if from a trance and begin preparations for…something. Indignant females showed off their annoyance as every male in the room directed them up to the Justice Five's table (Mystel, Garland, Crusher and Brooklyn had moved out of the way of course) where suddenly Ming-Ming found herself surrounded by unwanted female company, especially that of Mariah and Mathilda. Long standing rivalries were coming to the surface and the boys sensed that they better get this show on the world before the girls tore each other to shreds. Julia sat in between the three, an angry Julia was a force to be reckoned with, as well as Emily – her options were in the middle of the woman war or next to Ming-Ming. Hilary sat down next to Mariam who was tempted to stand but decided against it. Mathilda stood up and offered her seat to Charlotte who'd been sort of indirectly shepherded over without a real indication of what was going on, a seat she gladly took as Mathilda went and sat next to Queen instead. As the house lights dimmed the girls couldn't help but wonder what they'd just agreed to watch and whether it would actually be worth their while…

**And that's the end of Hero! Kai might actually have a heart! XD I know, shocking! Next chapter's got something big on the way so stay tuned! **

**Russian translations: **

**Cyrillic – it's not a word but rather the written language of the Russians. Random fact for the day :P**

_**Spasibo**_** - thanks**

_**vpered**_** - go ahead**

**Well what are the boys planning? You'll just have to wait and see! But trust me it's going to be BIG and HILARIOUS (Well, anything involving every male in the room's gotta be worth something)! :D :D So please keep reviewing! :D :D :D **


	8. Maestro

8. Maestro

**Wow, eight chapters! This is pretty big, especially for me! :D :D Thanks so much for all the reviews, I love reading them! ^_^**

**Now are you all ready for what the boys have in store? It's going to be one hell of a-**

**Rei: Just get on with the chapter already Rose! :P**

**Rose: *rolls eyes* Sheesh, I'm getting there furball! Now, without further ado on with the chapter!**

"Speaking"

_Thinking_

"_Speaking in Russian (or another language)" – written in English_

"_**Phonetic Russian/Chinese pinyin (will be translated at the bottom)"**_

**Let's go! :D :D :D **

Tyson once again appeared centre stage as the presenter, mic in hand. The only difference was this time he was flanked by Tala and Michael for the spot of announcer. It was going to be a tough contest to see who got to introduce their unofficial act. "Ladies, as most of you know," Tyson began, giving Charlotte a small inclination of the head to indicate he understood she'd have no idea and so was going to keep speaking to explain. Unfortunately he was cut short by Tala who grabbed the microphone off him to explain it to Charlotte; she was his friend first after all.  
>"Every time we have a girlboy challenge, there are many dances us gentlemen," he stressed the word with a hint of laughter, "aren't allowed to perform as the producers believe it's too raunchy."  
>"And that we're all too sexy to appear onscreen shirtless at the same time. It would cause a meltdown among the female populous." Enrique piped up from the side of the group, but funnily enough no one really minded; the boys generally agreed with him. <em>The arrogance, <em>Charlotte thought to herself with a small smile.  
>"<span>So," <span>Tyson continued somewhat annoyed at being cut off retrieving the mic from Tala. "Now that we're off camera, we'd like to perform our original number for last week's Battle of the Sexes contest-"  
>"And we challenge you to perform a sexier routine! Same rules as always apply, ladies. This time, we really do have you beat!" Michael cut in, pointing out at the girls.<p>

Most of the girls raised their eyebrows, a couple scoffed. Be beaten in a sexiness competition by men? "Oh please, the next thing you'll ask is to try and out-shop us. You're never going to win, boys." Salima laughed boldly and the girls nodded. Emily stood up and crossed her arms confidently after going over some data from her smartphone.  
>"She's got a point, you statistically have no hope of winning whatsoever."<br>"Not a chance in hell. Sorry guys." Mathilda provided from her chair, giving the boys a consolidating smile.  
>"Just accept defeat now before we embarrass you." Queen's calm voice was full of confidence, which was surprising because she didn't address the entire group very often. Charlotte's eyes observed all the girls around her, each one of them confident they would win this challenge of hotness. Her eyes flicked to their competition, all of whom did <span>not<span> look pleased the girls thought they'd beat them no contest, and then back to the girls. _There are about four times more boys here! _Charlotte noticed from the pure division of the room, the boys took up almost half the room standing there before their actual dance number whilst the girls barely took two tables! If the contest had anything to do with group size, males win hands down. _But I'm guessing size alone isn't going to be enough, there's something more to all this… what did he mean by 'sexiness contest'? _Charlotte tapped Mariah on the shoulder; the closest person to ask about all this. 

"Mariah, did he say a sexiness contest?" Mariah nodded brightly turning to face Charlotte, her hot-pink hair bobbing happily as she did so. Not all of her hair was down to bob around though; the majority of it was up in two little buns on top of her head both done up with sakura blossom clips positioned to almost look like ears with a few strands framing her face. Her wild hair matched her pale pink sleeveless _**qipao**_ (1) that had golden flowers embroidered in a swirling pattern diagonally up her body. The dress went to her mid-calf, but split up both sides to her mid-thigh to allow for more mobility. To finish off her outfit a pair of white wedges with beautiful designs up and down them, the prominent colour being pink ("Ed Hardy," Mariah had boasted when Charlotte asked her about them earlier on, "and not knock-offs too!") She looked amazing, as did all the other girls; and it made Charlotte feel rather underdressed even though this was a uniform and not exactly her choice. This wasn't a new feeling to her, she wasn't usually one to dress up anyway and often felt out of place when she did because _it doesn't matter how much I try, I still don't look good enough. So I stopped trying to be beautiful because… _Sighing she tilted her head down letting some of her wild curls fall in front of her left eye. _I'm not. _Suddenly remembering she was speaking to Mariah, she seemed to jump back to life with a smile.

"You see, as Tyson said the boys usually try and get away with really raunchy numbers every time we do Boy/Girl challenges, which is every Friday, for a laugh but it never works. But don't think the girls get special treatment because there's less of us, we've had quite a few of our numbers knocked back before we get one approved for exactly the same reason as the boys. So one week we decided to see whose too-sexy-for-the-show song was sexier, we won, and so now we do this every week just for fun. We've never lost, though this is the first week I've seen every single guy so focused, so we might actually have a run for our money…" Noticing that all the boys had turned to face her due to her admittance they might actually have a decent performance this time around, she laughed. "Oh who am I kidding, it's the boys!" Charlotte nodded smiling, she could see where the cockiness came from; if she'd beaten an opponent so many times like they had she'd be exactly the same. _Probably worse knowing me, _she chuckled to herself.

"Do you think the same thing _**sestrenku (2)**_?" Tala's cool voice echoed around the room almost coming from every direction and Charlotte wondered how awake she actually was and whether she'd accidentally fallen asleep before realising Tala was holding Tyson's mic. _Oh the speakers! Silly me! _She almost laughed at her own stupidity before smiling at Tala.  
>"Honestly, I haven't seen either side perform before so I'm in no position to judge. The only people I've ever seen dance are Raul, Julia, you Tala, Spencer, Ian's happy leprechaun jig and Bryan's heavy metal head-banging. But, since this is a sexiness competition and you gentlemen seem to have forgotten you're up against ten really hot girls I'm going to have to side with my own gender." She shrugged happily as a couple of the boys turned to Ian to inquire about his leprechaun jig which he glared at her for mentioning. Tala seemed somewhat content with the answer, until he counted all the members of his opposition that is. <em>There are eleven girls over there including, but Charlotte said ten really hot girls…<em>

Tala looked back at her, about to ask her something when she'd smiled cutting him off. "You know I don't think I'm hot Tala. I'd sound too up myself if I said so." A grin crossed her face as her eyes scanned the crowd of anxious boys. "But at the rate of compliments I've been getting this evening, I might actually have to start believing you and Spence." Tala chuckled, leaning over and resting his lips lightly on her forehead. "Plus, haven't you guys already put together your routines, how am I supposed to suddenly learn one in three minutes?" Laughing Tala assured her she'd done more amazing things before straightening back up again and smiling at her. Hearing Tyson's pissed off voice angrily ranting for him to give back the microphone in the background he held out his fist, and once she'd pounded it with a big grin he chucked the mic back to him with barely a "Catch,". Tyson fumbled with the mic before getting the precious piece of equipment back into his hands and letting out a massive sigh of relief.

"Alright ladies, now that we've gotten that sorted, it's time for our contribution to the Sexy Off! Hit it Ian!" Ian was more than happy to oblige, and as all the girls sat back in their seats as the incredibly familiar electronic melody of '_Sexy and I Know It' _by LMFAO played. Charlotte's eyes widened and she looked at the other girls' faces to see if they'd had the same reaction as her; it was clear from the looks on their faces that they all recognised the song too. All the male Breakers bar Daichi and Kai stood centre stage for the first verse, with all remaining boys standing either side. Suddenly the lights went up and Tyson began the rap strutting/shuffling forward.

_When I walk on by, girls be looking like damn he be fly, _He tossed Max the mic, and he did a Michael Jackson like turn before strutting forward and shuffling like a boss.  
><em>I pimp to the beat, walking down the street in my new lafreak, yeah, <em>Max did another Michael Jackson turn and from Max the mic went to Kenny, who ripped off his formal pants (he had forgotten to mention the Velcro along the side seams to Hilary) to reveal neon metallic leopard print leggings much to the amusement of the girls_.  
>This is how I roll, animal print pants outta control,<em> Kenny motioned to his pants, did a turn before chucking the mic over the Rei who'd let out all his ink black hair and shook it around making all the girls incredibly envious of such lovely locks.  
><em>It's Redfoo with the big afro, and like Bruce Lee rock at the club, <em>Rei did a jumping kick at the mention of Bruce Lee before the mic went back to Tyson.

_Ah… girl look at that body! _All the boys pointed to Rei, who posed showing off his toned muscles flexing one arm and pointing with the other.  
><em>Ah… girl look at that body! <em>This time to Max, who posed like Michael Jackson after doing a quick turn.  
><em>Ah… girl look at that body! <em>Then to Kenny who pulled out an Elvis pose. Elvis, in animal print pants…  
><em>Ah…I-I-I work out! <em>Tyson declared, flexing his muscles and winking at Hilary who went beetroot red. Suddenly, Tyson found the mic stolen by Miguel, and he, Mystel, Johnny and Ozuma took over for the next little bit of the song.

_Ah… girl look at that body! _They all (Breakers included) motioned to Ozuma who posed showing off his toned muscles. Lots of toned muscly men around here!  
><em>Ah… girl look at that body! <em>Johnny showed off some more muscles, in the process slightly ripping his shirt.  
><em>Ah… girl look at that body! <em>Mystel this time, who did a backflip; impressive yes, sexy no.  
><em>Ah…I-I-I work out! <em>Miguel grinned, winking at Mathilda and flexing his muscles. Tyson and Miguel seemed to truce, all eight boys doing the next part of the routine together.

_When I walk in the spot, (yeah)_ Kenny punched the air adding his one solo moment of rapping,_ this is what I see, (okay) _Ozuma provided as the boys all chorused the main line walking forward.  
><em>Everybody stops and they staring at me! <em>They all pointed to themselves and then looked at one another as if to say 'hey I thought we were pointing at me!'  
><em>I got passion in my pants and I ain't afraid to show it, show it, show it… <em>Shrugging they continued on, motioning to their pants. As they were all about to chorus the, well chorus, suddenly Tala and the Blitzkriegs busted right through the centre, nicking the mic and finishing off the verse for them.  
><em>I'm sexy and I know it! <em>

__

Suddenly, all twelve (Ian had come down to join in) guys onstage began pelvic thrusting to the electric beat, and then pulling out bits of a shuffling routine in surprising sync. Even more surprising than the fact they were good was when Dunga, Gary, Rick, Eddy, Crusher and Steve joined in, adding to the already wild insanity onstage.  
><em>I'm sexy and I know it! <em>More pelvic thrusting followed as they found themselves joined by Brooklyn, Garland, Robert, Aaron, Goki, Benkei and Oliver. By this stage the girls were all sitting in silent shock, the full hilarity of the situation yet to hit them. Now onstage there were twenty two men and it looked like a pelvic thrusting mosh pit, and this was only with half the boys onstage!

_Yeah! _Michael joined them now, along with Lee, Enrique, Gingka, Raul, and Claude. Michael strutted forward to take the second verse.  
><em>When I'm at the mall, security just can't fight 'em off! <em>He tossed the mic to Enrique who flicked his hair and winked.  
><em>And when I'm at the beach, I'm in a Speedo trying to tan my cheeks! <em>Raul did an epic Broadway style slide in front of him holding his hands up in an 'I really don't know' gesture adding (_what) _Luckily, Enrique tossed the microphone on to Claude who grinned and continued on totally unperturbed by Enrique's… Enrique-ness.  
><em>This is how I roll, c'mon ladies it's time to go, <em>he made a motion to the girls as if asking them to come with him before Gingka stole the mic much to his dismay.  
><em>We headed to the bar, baby don't be nervous, <em>Gingka winked at Madoka and there was a sense of déjà vu; he looked just like Tyson at that moment! Madoka's beet red face did not help this sense of repetition  
><em>No shoes, <em>Michael skidded up to join Lee, doing a shuffle ending on a kick.  
><em>No shirt, <em>Lee practically ripped off his shirt exposing tanned and toned abs and Mariah was left wondering how long it was going to take to fix that one.  
><em>And I still get service! <em>Raul stole the mic with a grin adding the last part of the line. Gingka called out _(watch) _before they split into four groups.

_Ah… girl look at that body! _The first group, led by Rei, contained Mystel, Raul, Aaron, Tala, Claude, Johnny and Lee, all posed and flexed their muscles at the same time.  
><em>Ah… girl look at that body! <em>Max's group, containing Robert, Garland, Eddy, Steve, Rick, and Oliver went next all striking poses.  
><em>Ah… girl look at that body! <em>Kenny's group was probably the most ironic, Crusher, Benkei, Bryan, Spencer, Gary and Dunga all of whom absolutely towered over Kenny. But you definitely can't accuse Kenny of shying away, him and his animal print pants were really getting into it!  
><em>Ah…I-I-I work out! <em>Tyson and his group, Gingka, Michael, Brooklyn, Ozuma, Goki and Miguel struck poses clearly demonstrating that they did indeed work out. The boys were about to continue in this fashion, when suddenly all the short members from the teams came on! Kevin, Daichi, Ian, Joseph, Jim, Kenta, Yu (and a very peeved Masamune at being classed with all the kids) jumped on and continued the dance, leaving everyone behind them to shrug and continue pelvic thrusting.

_Ah… girl look at that body! _Joseph and Kevin were first showing off their muscles, which surprisingly enough they possessed.  
><em>Ah… girl look at that body! <em>Ian and Kenta went next. Ian being short but not a child was actually not too bad at the whole posing thing, Kenta on the other hand wasn't so good being slightly shy, but it didn't matter.  
><em>Ah… girl look at that body! <em>Jim and Masamune were after, Masamune determined to prove he wasn't a just kid – especially to Charlotte. Jim was just trying not to fall over like he had in rehearsal; that was embarrassing!  
><em>Ah…I-I-I work out! <em>Daichi and Yu really got into it, back to back flexing one arm and holding the muscles, which was actually rather adorable as Yu had no muscles. Tyson was once again possession of the mic and he clearly looked relieved to have it back with him.

_When I walk in the spot (yeah) this is what I see (okay), _or at least he did until the infamous Kai Hitawari abandoned all cares and grabbed the microphone off him. King and Kane provided the added lines with Tsubasa and Kyoya taking to the stage with them. They were the last five to join the forty three boys onstage and complete the group.  
><em>Everybody stops and they staring at me, <em>Kyoya puffed out his chest as he rapped this line before the mic was stolen from him by Tsubasa.  
><em>I got passion in my pants and I ain't afraid to show it, show it, show it… <em>Admittedly Tsubasa had sweet moves and all the boys got ready for their favourite line of the song.  
><em>I'm sexy and I know it! <em>

More pelvic thrusting followed, which considering there was over forty people in a limited space was like watching yaoi brought to life. There were a couple of guys who were getting a little too involved with one another…  
><em>I'm sexy and I know it! <em>As the boys chorused again, they began to gear up for something as they divided almost immediately down the middle as if for a dance battle. Due to the fact all the boys were rushing around as they split it was impossible to tell who was on what side, only that Tyson was leading one side and Kai was leading the other.  
><em>Check it out, <em>Tyson challenged confidently taking a step towards Kai. Kai repeated the phrase with the same amount of cocky boyish taunting and so the battle began.

_Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, yeah! _Everyone on Tyson's side wiggled their hips in time with the words, and seemed to throw the challenge down to Kai's side on 'yeah'. Ooh, they'd set the bar high with some brilliant hip action but Kai was sure that his side could do better.  
><em>Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, yeah! <em>Kai's side was evenly matched with Tyson's in the supreme art of wiggling and so a decider was initiated. Kai vs. Tyson!  
><em>Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, yeah! <em>Kai wiggled impressively as did Tyson, but realising there wasn't much more of the song to go and they couldn't just keep war-wiggling they decided to draw truce and continue wiggling another day.  
><em>Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, yeah, yeah! <em>The entire group wiggled together at the stunned silent audience of females. Tyson had the microphone again and he continued his rap with everyone just randomly wiggling behind him.  
><em>Do the wiggle man!<br>I do the wiggle man!  
>Yeah,<br>I'm sexy and I know it!_

The boys continued to randomly dance once again splitting into four groups that were similar to before, only difference was Daichi's and Kai's groups were mixed among them.  
><em>Ah… girl look at that body!<br>Ah… girl look at that body!  
>Ah… girl look at that body!<br>Ah…I-I-I work out! _No two boys posed the same way as they demonstrated their muscles from working out, some back-flipped or kicked up, others flexed, some revealed toned abs; all of which were silently a big hit with the girls.

_Ah… girl look at that body!  
>Ah… girl look at that body!<br>Ah… girl look at that body!  
>Ah…I-I-I work out! <em>The boys made their way into the centre, all of them chorusing the last line together. Kai and Tyson were back to back, Daichi had slid in front of them with Kenny, and Max was next to Tyson, Rei next to Kai. From there it was basically a big jumble of toned muscles, excited faces and sweaty bodies. Once again, living yaoi.

_Yeah I'm sexy and I know it! _They all yelled out at the top of their lungs having given their performance their all and really enjoyed it. As the song ended a kind of silence encompassed the room the only sound coming from the heavy breathing of the boys, and for the first time the boys got a good look at the expressions on the girls' faces. Shocked faces each one a priceless mix of horror, amusement, delight and fascination were what greeted them, each of the girls so stunned by the magnitude of the performance they were unable to move. Suddenly, Mathilda began to giggle; the adorable high pitched noise seeming to wake up the other girls who all tried to contain fits of laughter. For Charlotte especially it was a strain not to downright laugh, being Max's female clone meant she found this absolutely hilarious, but she tried her best because she thought it would be rude.

"Just laugh, Charlotte. We won't be offended, we promise." Max smiled brightly at her and she nodded before absolutely roaring with laughter, and was soon joined by all the girls. Her body moved with her laugh, she couldn't sit still and nearly fell of her chair before being able to steady herself, still laughing. The sound filled the room with warmth, but it wasn't a sound for very long before Charlotte was laughing so hard no noise came out at all. It was strange watching her laugh silently, as if someone had pushed 'Mute' button on a universal remote pointed at her. Yu, because he was closest, tentatively scampered over and was about to poke her to see whether she was alright, no one knew how it would help but in Yu's child logic it would, when the sound of her laugh returned as suddenly as it had left. As the girls all recovered from their hysterics Queen looked at her brother King who grinned back at her clearly having had the time of his life.

"I'm not sure whether or not to be embarrassed for you, brother." Julia nodded as she looked at Raul clearly thinking something along the same lines.  
>"Well, I'm proud of you Raul! You show those boys," unfortunately she couldn't keep the slightest hint of laughter out of her voice, "how real men shake their hips!" The girls were all having trouble not laughing, but Mariah stood up and glared at Lee still fighting the smile off her face.<br>"_Lee! Do you know how many times I've had to fix that shirt for you? Now you've gone and ripped it right up the middle! It's going to take me WEEKS to fix it again! _Lee seemed to shrink back slightly as Mariah ranted at him in Chinese and Rei chuckled happy he wasn't on the receiving end of a mad Mariah. He'd been there a couple of times before; he still shuddered at the memories. Charlotte stood up, tapped Mariah on the shoulder and grinned at her in an attempt to calm her down. Fuming Mariah spun around and almost ranted into Charlotte's chest until she realised Charlotte's face was above her, chuckling happily. "…sorry Charlotte. You're too tall, you bloody Amazon you! Shrink!" She laughed as Charlotte squatted with a smirk on her face looking back at her.  
>"Satisfied?" Mariah nodded and patted her head. "Don't get too condescending shortie. I'm still a head taller than you." She straightened up and rested her arm on Mariah's head to prove her point. Mariah pretended to look upset before laughing and Lee let out a sigh of relief, Mariah clearly had calmed down.<p>

"So ladies, how do you plan on topping that?" Michael's confident grin was conveyed through his cocky tone that blasted through the speakers causing all the girls to roll their eyes. Mariam and Julia's eyes met, clearly thinking the same thing they turned to Charlotte, who was still chatting with Mariah.  
>"Charlotte, sweetie can you come over here a minute?" Charlotte looked up, curious as to why Julia was calling her sweetie but walked over anyway. Usually Julia calling anyone pet names was a sign she wanted something, and more often than not it wasn't a good thing. "Remember how I taught you that routine after you picked that kick-ass fight song?" Grinning Charlotte nodded, it was a kick-ass routine to go with a kick-ass song! Julia had let her pick anything, telling her to pick a fight song and then had a whole dance routine ready for her choice. It was as if Julia had gone through all the fight songs on her Ipod to be prepared, and the thought didn't surprise Charlotte. She was impressed with Julia's dancing prowess, but she'd said she hadn't choreographed the routine – her friend had. Suddenly it clicked that the 'friend' she'd referred to was probably Mariam, that was why they'd shared the glance earlier. Julia continued on, liquid confidence pouring form her lips as she spoke. "Well, that's going to be our rebuttal number! And there was one thing I didn't tell you about the dance I taught you," Confused Charlotte said nothing, a first for her as she simply stared at Julia surprised. <em>Clearly she's thought this who thing through, <em>Charlotte's mind laughed. "It's not my part in the dance that you learned, its Mariah's. Since Mariah will be on vocals you're going to take her place in our dance. This means you'll be dancing in step with Mariam for most of the routine." Charlotte's eyes flicked to the Saint Shield with renewed interest.

"You guys are going to let me dance with you? Sweet, thank you!" Charlotte fist pumped the air excitedly before turning around and grinning at the rest of the girls, surprisingly all of whom grinned back.  
>"Think you can handle it?" Mariam smirked watching Charlotte process the information before grinning. Usually she wouldn't let just anyone join the girls' dance but she'd seen Charlotte's moves earlier for Baby Maniacs, and Julia had sent her videos of Charlotte doing their routine and she was actually really good! Mariam was certainly impressed with her dancing skill, and secretly she was incredibly glad Charlotte was her partner for the routine – she hated bad dancers. A confident smirk crossed Charlotte's face and she met Mariam's eyes with a burning determination.<p>

"Just watch me!" With a grin Charlotte reached down, pulling a small black remote from a holster on her upper thigh hidden by her dress much to the shock of all who witnessed it thinking it was a gun or something. Ian's eyes widened, that's where the long-distance remote for the DJ station got to! It had vanished nearly a week ago when they'd first checked out the venue and set up everything; it controlled lighting, microphones, speakers and the DJ station itself all in one remote so it was pretty valuable and pretty useful for a DJ who wanted to dance. Ian thought he'd lost it, and was incredibly pissed at himself for doing so because he'd wanted to use that so he could have breaks down on the dance floor, but clearly she'd had it the whole time and not told him just for the purpose of a performance! He couldn't help but grin, mastery of deceit of all sorts was something he'd taught her well. _Let's see what other tricks you've got up those puffy short sleeves, my brilliantly deceptive and deceptively brilliant maestro! _

Her fingers flew nimbly across the keypad, hovering only above the enter key as she re-read the sequence to ensure it would have the desired effect before confirming her choice with a grin. A microphone came down from the ceiling, a hanging mic like ones at wrestling matches, for Mariah. The lights dimmed, focusing on a spotlight for said White Tiger. Purple, pink, blue and green stage lights were at the ready and their chosen song was about to play so Mariam signalled that it was time. The boys all took two steps back, unsure of what was going on as Mariah walked centre stage and grabbed a hold of the hanging mic before announcing into it like a wrestling referee.

"Gentlemen, you've shown us that you're all actually rather sexy and you definitely all know it," Her voice boomed over the speakers with a sense of power and dominance, but that didn't stop the smirk that came from mentioning the boys' routine. None of the girls were going to be able to take any of the boys seriously for the rest of the night, especially Hilary who still had difficulty looking at Tyson and not cackling hysterically all over again. "But now it's our turn and tonight we have a special guest with us," She motioned to Charlotte who bowed elegantly, but as she rose back up she rolled her shoulders back and took a poised stance, her eyes full of confidence and pride. _Show no fear, make them fear. Show no mercy, have them beg for it._ "Please make our lovely new friend Charlotte feel welcome onstage as she joins us for our rebuttal routine…" Mariah paused, the boys leaning in with anticipation to see what song the girls picked this time. Their numbers were always so varied; there had been K-Pop one week and Britney Spears the next, once there'd even been a cabaret! "You think you've seen us perform it all, that there's nothing we could possibly pull? Well think again because you ain't seen nothing yet!" It was hilarious listening to her speak like a black woman, because it was coming out of the mouth of a pretty Asian girl.

Mind blowing? Like you wouldn't believe.

"Prepare yourselves gentlemen, for our musical number…!" As she yelled out the boys were restless with anticipation. Closer they leaned in, closer and closer until… A burst of colour and sound; suddenly the whole hall was awash with colours as bass blasted from the speakers creating a pulsing rhythm impossible to ignore. Each pulse was a signal to the girls; one by one they seemed to come alive again, kicking, punching and pulling out otherwise acrobatic feats to show the world they were ready to fight for their title as the Sexiest People on Show. And boy, were the men in for a fight…

**That's the end of Maestro! XD XD XD Because I'm sexy (Hahaha! Not really :P), I know it, and I also know that if I keep writing this chapter will get to 6000 words! :P**

**Who liked the boys' dance, what will the girls pull in retaliation? Keep reading to find out! :D**

**Here's the translations used in this chapter: **

_**Qipao (1) – **_**a traditional Chinese dress, look them up, they're really pretty ^_^**

_**sestrenku (2) – **_**Little sister **

**Always remember to review! REVIEWING IS KEY! IT'S VITAL TO MY SURVIVAL! (It's not but still, please review!) :D :D :D :D **


	9. Lab Rat

9. Lab Rat

**SWEET! Nine chapters and still going strong! :D Sorry about the massive delay, but I've been a bit busy what with school restarting and such! Thanks so much for all the reviews, especially Nazrita and Rangerapprentice; thanks for the continuing support guys! Time for a girl-power chapter as we see what the girls have planned! Plus, scenes from Titanic? You'll just have to read to believe! **

**Enrique: And it's going to get hot in here! Bring on the ladies! **

**Rose: *smacks the back of his head* You pervert! Why are you here? Get out of my Author note! **

**Enrique: *sulks off* …**

**Rose: *yells out just as he almost gets to the door* Wait! **

**Enrique: *spins around and looks hopeful* **

**Rose: Do the disclaimer for me? *points to audience* They're waiting!**

**Enrique: *sighs* MisstiqueRose does not own Beyblade or any of the songs she mentions, she only owns her OC. **

**Rose: *grins and waves him off* You can go! *produces Mystel's favourite knife from Hero and uses icy voice* Now…**

**Enrique: *sweatdrops and runs off nearly shitting himself screaming* SHE'S GONNA EAT ME! **

"Speaking"

_Thinking (and or song lyrics, just check the context)_

"_Speaking in Russian (or another language)" – written in English_

"_**Phonetic Russian/Chinese pinyin (will be translated at the bottom)"**_

**And AWAY WITH THE STORY WE FLY! :D :D :D **

The pumping beat crashed through the air like waves, _but they are waves; just sound waves of particles colliding with one another passing along energy… _Miguel shook his head quickly, now was not the time for science! Impulsively he felt his eyes rest upon Mathilda who winked at him and as a result felt the blood rise to his cheeks. _Or at least not Physics… Biology on the other hand… _He could see quite a few of the boys were struggling like him to form comprehensive thoughts, this always happened when the girls danced... He sighed as he tried to phrase it in his head so it didn't sound so… wrong. Unfortunately, the words 'dancing', 'sexy' and 'girls' together in a sentence can't _not_ be hinting at some kind of sexual innuendo. It was a language he was fluent in – unfortunately thanks to Tala. The last time he and Tala had worked together all Tala had done was apply sexual innuendo to any and every situation, and then realising Miguel was clueless, explained it all in vivid detail. _Mental note: warn Julia her boyfriend's a… oh God I know there's a word for it… what is it? _

"Walking sex-dictionary. Tool. Porn addict. Rapist. Sexual offender. Any of these fitting the bill here Mike?" Ian's voice cut through Miguel's recollection like a knife and he spun to face the shrimp who grinned maliciously at him. _How could he possibly have known? _Sighing Miguel nodded sheepishly slightly offended at being called Mike.  
>"All of the above and more I fear. I wonder how Julia puts up with…" Miguel's slate grey eyes flicked to Tala, who upon feeling the Spaniard's gaze gave him a creepy lopsided grin that sent shivers up Miguel's spine. Muttering prayers to the heavens above, Miguel refocused on Mathilda. Little sweet innocent Mathilda…<p>

Little sweet innocent Mathilda who was pulling out moves that would put a stripper to shame in time with the pulsing beat. Since when could she do that? Miguel's eyes widened as he simply stood in absolute shock. Her orange dress, the only thing she'd agreed to wear without throwing one of her teammates through a solid object such as a wall or window, swirled around her knees as she moved and her headband that was adorned with little orange flowers somehow managed to stay in place. He couldn't help but notice that although Mathilda's white boots had heels she seemed to be managing fine, as did all the girls – they were all in heels of varying heights as well_. Not that some of them needed the height advantage_; Miguel thought as Charlotte, the already tall waitress who was now a giant in her little black heels, twirled around in perfect sync with Mariam.

Suddenly the track shifted, but it didn't seem to faze any of the girls – if anything they'd been stalling until it happened. Insanely provocative stalling, but stalling none the less. DJ Fresh's "Hot Right Now" featuring Rita Ora flowed through the speakers, and each time the electric voice sang 'Put your hands up' a pair of the girls would obligingly do so swinging their hips in time with the music. Mariah took the mic once more and walked forward as she began to sing; almost a perfect recreation of Rita Ora's voice.

_Got your hands up cause you think you've got it  
>Going crazy, we're not even started<br>Eh oh eh oh eh eh, eh oh eh oh oooh, _As she sang, the girls all strut forward confidence oozing from every pore. They knew what they had to do to win and there was nothing that would stop them. The scent of combat, which smelled rather like Chanel No. 5, wafted through the air.  
><em>It's so funny that you think you're winning<br>Cause somebody told you who was spinning  
>Eh oh eh oh eh eh, eh oh eh oh eh eh <em>

As the chorus rolled around the girls began a ferocious fight dance routine, the kind that challenged the boys to 'beat this!' It didn't have their usual kind of flirtatiousness; instead it was more of a 'if you want me you're gunna have to catch me' flirting. Kai met Charlotte's jade eyed glance and realised as she swished her hips that she was daring him to come just that little bit closer, taunting him into believing that perhaps he wouldn't get his ass kicked if he did. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Masamune step towards her enchanted and he felt a sudden burst of bile rise in his throat, but he didn't know why. As Masamune was enticed closer into the girls' trap, the other boys watched with varying degrees of horror knowing he may not make it back to them in one piece.

_You know you're only in it  
>Cuz it's hot right now, hot right now<br>Turn it up right now  
>Put your hands in the air if you wanna right now<br>Eh oh eh oh hot right now  
>You know you're only in it<br>Cuz it's hot right now, hot right now  
>Turn it up right now<br>Put your hands in the air if you wanna right now  
>Eh oh eh oh hot right now<em>

"A praying mantis dance…" breathed Robert as Masamune kept edging closer, and the name couldn't have been more appropriate. They had no inkling as to when the girls would lash out with fiery punches or kicks; it was a guessing game like little bugs and praying mantises. Charlotte met Masamune's gaze and blew him a kiss in an attempt to lure him closer. Honestly she was having lots of fun, and the idea was a spur of the moment decision – she really wanted to scare the pants off him once he got close enough. For Masamune himself, time seemed to slow down and the rest of the world faded out. _She just…blew _me_…a kiss… _A goofy grin spread across his face before he suddenly blacked out, simply collapsing backwards like a pushed-over pillar. A beat of pause echoed as Charlotte froze, somewhat confused as to what had just happened before happily jumping back into the routine not missing a step.

_You got the latest place  
>It's on your radar<br>By the time you show your face, it's over. _Mathilda and Ming-Ming stepped forward and pretended to look bored with the boys before twirling back to allow Hilary and Salima forward. _  
>Eh oh eh oh eh eh, eh oh eh oh oooh<br>You got the magic numbers on your speed dial  
>And you could barely drop a name, but me won. <em>Flicking their hair in sync, their hips swished as they turned around and strutted back; _allowing a perfect view of their fabulous asses… _Enrique noted with a smirk. He wouldn't be forgetting this day in a hurry. Mariah threw her head back and almost roared as the chorus came back around, startling some but not an incredibly impressed Rei after all, neko-jin: roaring is acceptable.

_You know you're only in it  
>Cuz it's hot right now, hot right now<br>Turn it up right now  
>Put your hands in the air if you want it right now<br>Eh oh eh oh hot right now  
>You know you're only in it<br>Cuz it's hot right now, hot right now  
>Turn it up right now<br>Put your hands in the air if you want it right now  
>Eh oh eh oh hot right now<em>

The girls up the front, Mathilda, Ming-Ming, Hilary and Madoka, strutted forward so they were mere millimetres from the audience, raised their hands and swung their hips like pendulums in time with the music which had a surprising effect on a newly-reawakened Masamune. Unfortunately, where he was now seated meant his eye line was at their hips… his jaw dropped, eyes almost bulging out of their sockets and he hit the ground again; silently Emily wondered if he had a blood sugar problem or something. Charlotte just met Mariah's gaze to make sure this time it wasn't her fault, her theory (it's just girls in general, I just was super effective because he likes me) confirmed with a subtle nod of the head.

_I'm let me see the club get hotter, hotter  
>I wanna see your hands up higher higher<br>I don't need close shouts oh oh oh oh  
>Can I get a woah!<br>_

The remaining girls, Charlotte, Emily, Mariam, Julia, Queen and Salima, called out a response to Mariah's sung request while just generally grooving up the back. They weren't really the focus at this point so they were just relaxing. Spencer grinned, just a little, seeing Charlotte have so much fun. It was nice to see her making some new female friends; he'd been a little worried since she only seemed to hang around boys – not that Bryan practically kidnapping her every time he wanted to hang out was helping. His eyes flicked to Kai, who although he would never actually admit it to anyone least of all her, was enchanted and rather impressed with the way she moved. _Funny considering he's already seen her dance… _Spencer mused smiling.

_I'm let me see the club get hotter, hotter  
>I wanna see your hands up higher higher<br>I don't need close shouts oh oh oh oh  
>Can I get a woah!<em>

With precise timing and accuracy all the girls at the front spun out, leaving just enough time for the remaining girls to 'almost' kick the poor victims at the front in the face. Only the Blitzkriegs were able to stand there and not bat an eyelid, although they weren't expecting it they weren't surprised. Very little surprised them – except for Charlotte ridiculous memory bank of useless facts that she'd recite to them if prompted, often causing them to wonder where she'd gotten all this information from. Then again, her cheery nonchalant answer only spawned more questions, "Back of a Libra pad." Apart from that, there wasn't much else that could surprise them; or at least that the remaining teams knew of. As the other boys almost fell backwards, Kenny almost landing on top of passed-out Masamune, the Blitzkriegs just grinned, Bryan even giving Charlotte a small Russian kudos for narrowly missing Robert's head, something Robert himself was not pleased about.

_You know you're only in it  
>Cuz it's hot right now, hot right now<br>Turn it up right now  
>Put your hands in the air if you want it right now<br>Eh oh eh oh hot right now  
>You know you're only in it<br>Cuz it's hot right now, hot right now  
>Turn it up right now<br>Put your hands in the air if you want it right now  
>Eh oh eh oh hot right now<em>

_(Throw your hands up...)_

_Cuz it's hot right now..._

As the girls swirled into a final pose, Charlotte (who had not been briefed on such a thing) simply shrugged and went along with it, punching the air and quickly surrounded by the other girls. Julia whispered a quick praise, which was met with the famous cheery grin and excited breathless whisper of praise.

Stunned silence followed, but this was not like the unsure silence that greeted the boys more of an impressed but not wanting to say so silence. Mariah walked forward, breaking the formation, allowing the microphone to go back up into the rigging before smirking at the boys. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'd say it's safe to say we won. Agreed ladies?" The girls nodded in approval, but were met with a roar of irritation from the boys.  
>"Oh NO!"<br>"We actually **beat** you fair and square!"  
>"Accept it ladies! We might actually be sexy!" Impulsively Charlotte began to laugh at that statement, thought their performance was hilarious, sexy wasn't the right word in any shape or form. A slightly hurt Tyson glared at her, growling. "What's so funny, Kitty?" Not deterred in the slightest, compared to the Blitzkriegs Tyson was the kitten here, Charlotte grinned recovering from her laughter.<br>"Hilarious, yes. Entertaining, incredibly. Impressive even. Sexy… no." She shrugged with a supressed chuckle as Enrique threw his hands in the air and cried something in Italian. He always reacted like this to losing; he thought he was rather sexy so it was a big blow to his manliness. After a while he changed to English, before transferring back to the Italian.  
>"I'm not sexy enough! This is the <span>worst <span>thing to ever happen to me!" Charlotte rolled her eyes, walked over and stood in front of him clearly absolutely sick of the theatrics, which was rather ironic considering how dramatic she was on a day to day basis.  
>"Oh come on Enrique, there are worse things that could happen to you."<br>He cried out loudly. "Like what? This is terrible beyond compare!" Rolling her eyes she shot Tala a glare for last week's interesting events, he grinned back at her, and turned her focus back to Enrique.

"I don't know, waking up dressed in a soaked vintage dress adrift on a barely floating wooden door on a freezing cold lake in autumn next to a very irritated slightly soaking boy then discovering you can't move from your current uncomfortable position or you'll sink and being told you're substituting for Kate Winslet in a science experiment to see whether or not Rose and Jack could have both survived the end of Titanic and having to stay on said barely adrift wooden door for over two hours." Enrique's jaw dropped at such a long hypothetical. "That is the one of the worst experiences I can think of, and how would I know?" She glared once again at all the Bliztkriegs, Spencer and Ian sheepishly looking away from her Medusa turn-you-to-stone glare, Bryan muttering something about needing a suitable substitute and Tala just grinning some more. "Oh yeah that's right!" An accusing finger pointed at them and she snarled, clearly not exactly happy with the memory. "These _**idioty**** (1) **_decided I wouldn't have plans at four am in the fucking morning and kidnapped me!" Tala walked over and patted her head, even though you could almost see steam rising from it.

"Oh come on _**malyutka (2), **_you're not complaining are you? I mean, you got to spend a couple of hours alone with Kai. That's not too bad is it?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and Charlotte wished more than anything that a hole would open up in the ground, and swallow Tala. Bryan was warning him that pissing her off wasn't a good idea (he might have given her a few self-defence weapons before the night began, just for laughs) but Tala took no heed, turning to face Kai who looked just as indignant as she was. "And as for you," he laughed brightly even though Kai looked prepared to murder someone, probably Tala. "You probably enjoyed it more than she did, after all, I'm pretty sure that dress we put her in gave you a good view of her-" Tala didn't get any further as he had his head kicked in, not by one of the Russians or Charlotte, but by Julia who dragged her boyfriend off for a 'private discussion'. An uncomfortable silence followed as Kai pretended he wasn't completely mortified by Tala.

"So I'm thinking we're all going to need an explanation after Tala," Kenny coughed, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose and nodding to Kai, "Kai here's your chance to redeem yourself." Slowly Kai drew in a shaky deep breath, he looked so uncomfortable and Tyson couldn't help but savour this moment. For this first time his unfeeling captain actually seemed to appear…human and it was something he couldn't help but enjoy the spectacle of.

"Well, you see, we watched Titanic on Friday night since Charlotte hadn't seen it…"

_*Flashback* _Friday night

She swore she'd never been more distraught in all her life. Tears rolled down her face, flowing past reddened cheeks from dampened lashes. It was strange, that like when she laughed little sound came out when she cried so although she looked as if she were bawling her eyes out, and she was, there was no weeping sobs to accompany it. Kai secretly found her silence beautiful, as if subconsciously she knew that she didn't need to make noise when she cried, the sight alone would have the effect desired, a nice sympathetic cuddle. Although neither of them had actually registered it yet Charlotte was sitting wrapped in Kai's arms crying into his chest. It was therapeutic for both of them to have the company. After being shuffled around like a deck of cards the Blitzkriegs had finally decided on a seating arrangement; Spencer holding Ian because Ian was a sobber, Bryan trying to be masculine and pretend he wasn't crying with Tala absolutely bawling his eyes out against his chest and or throwing himself on the couch leaving Charlotte, who hadn't seen it before sitting next to Kai who also hadn't seen it before, which because they were watching Titanic – one of the greatest tragic love stories of all time, was a little awkward. The Blitzkriegs actually all loved this movie, and they all cried when they watched it; tough guys can cry.

"Why Jack, why?" Ian yelled out sobbing hysterically, Spencer holding out a box of tissues for him which he gratefully blew his nose into. Bryan rubbed Tala's back gently, pretending he himself wasn't already in tears whilst Tala cried like there was no tomorrow. After just watching Jack die in Titanic they were all rather morose. Bryan muttering something about 'the selfish bitch could have saved him' between angry manly sobs, Ian and Tala just weeping with Spencer comforting them and Charlotte and Kai just recovering, it's quite a heavy movie to watch the first time through.

"She could have saved him!" Bryan roared, a solitary tear trickling down his face. Spencer shook his head, holding back a few tears himself.  
>"Bryan, that door was barely holding her, let alone another person. Plus the cold probably would have killed him anyway." Ian recovered from his tragic state long enough to try and babble a rebuttal in tearful Russian, only to be cut off by Tala, who wasn't in much better of a state himself. Slowly it became a mounting argument over whether or not Jack could have been saved and Kai and Charlotte could only watch as tempers flared, and duck when Bryan decided to throw a chair. The only thing that stopped a full-blown war was the sound of the 'Skyrim Theme' (Peter Hollens and Lindsey Sterling edition) play from Spencer's phone, reminding him it was time to drop Charlotte home. Slowly all eyes turned to face the couch, which Charlotte peeked over to make sure she wouldn't be pelted with furniture. Realising it was for her alarm to go home rather than be a target she poked her entire head up and looked out at Russians, all frozen mid battle stance. A sneaky grin crossed Tala's face as he spotted Kai's arms still around Charlotte and suddenly, like all mad geniuses was inspired with an idea. As Charlotte left, giving them all hugs, even Kai, Tala began to work out the details of his evil plot. Kai left soon after, deciding it was best that these guys figured out their issues on their own. But as soon as he shut the door behind him, Tala began to call out orders.<p>

"_Alright gentlemen, we clearly have two set sides to this argument, so let's see if we can test it out and get a result once and for all."_ Spencer, who'd arrived back from dropping off Charlotte at her house, eyed him with confusion.  
><em><span>"What do you mean?" <span>_Tala's signature wolfish grin crossed his face and suddenly all the boys knew there was something devious planned.  
><em><span>"We're going to recreate the end of Titanic, and see once and for all whether or not Rose could have saved Jack." <span>_Ian's mouth opened, but Bryan vocalised the question faster.  
><em><span>"Who are we going to get to play Rose and Jack? We don't exactly have a giant group of people who'd be willing to." <span>_  
>"<em><span>Who said they had to be 'willing' participants? I'm thinking we take our little lovebirds and make them the stars of our experiment." <span>_Ian's eyes widened, if Kai found out he'd kill them all!  
><em><span>"Stars? Don't you mean lab rats?" <span>_Spencer questioned but secretly he was pretty pleased at the idea, finally a way to get back at Mr Grouch!  
>"<em><span>Exactly." <span>_

*_Time Skip* Three thirty the next morning. _

Charlotte was peacefully asleep in her bed; curly hair splayed out in all directions and curled up into a little ball. Her face was so relaxed Bryan almost felt bad for having to kidnap her, but then remembered he was doing this to prove his point and grinned maliciously. "_**Sladkie sny (3), **_little one."

"It's weird when he's not glaring at anyone. He looks so…peaceful…"  
>"Be quiet or he'll wake up and hear you! Then we're both dead!" Spencer hushed Ian as the two of them stood over Kai, who too was peacefully asleep and totally unguarded. With expert skill they quickly apprehended him without him even waking up before carrying him off to the next stage of the plan.<p>

Obviously, neither Kai nor Charlotte were exactly the same measurements as Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, so Ian had spent the rest of that evening before doing the maths to make the experiment plausible. Other things they had to do was to, once Charlotte was semi-awake, give her a dress almost identical to Rose's in the film, as well as shoes and such; the same thing for Kai dressed as Jack. Since Charlotte was only partially awake when they got her to put on the dress, she'd agreed without fuss; surprisingly enough so had Kai (after years of putting up with Tyson and Max who in the unlikely event they got up before him were just generally annoying and would prank him every opportunity they got he'd learned just to go along with anything that happened to his semi-conscious body and wreak havoc later).

The next, and most vital stage of the plan, would be to place the sleeping victims on the door and see if it would float. If it did, Bryan and Ian would be right; if not Spencer and Tala – either way someone owed someone else about fifty bucks. Something they only realised much later was that if their makeshift raft didn't float, then the two sleeping passengers on board probably would have drowned – something both of said passengers were sure to make clear to the Blitzkriegs at every available point in time afterward. Kai went on first because he was heavier, (there was logic in that but Kai wasn't sure where it lay) but didn't wake up until he moved his body into a more comfortable position and his hand wound up in the freezing cold water. He yelped in surprise, immediately awake and once he realised he was on a raft floating in a lake in the early hours of the morning; his first thoughts were _Oh my God I'm going to kill Tala. _On the banks of the lake the Blitzkriegs were laughing at Kai as he spouted verbal abuse in every tongue he could think of, before reeling him in (the raft was attached to some string held by Bryan and Spencer) to place Charlotte on board. Deciding it wasn't fair to leave Kai in the dark they explained the experiment to him, to which he responded with a string of more violent cursing.

Have you ever been startled when you woke up because someone was right next to you, and they weren't there the night before? That happened to Charlotte, who at four am lying next to Kai in her Rose-inspired attire, finally woke up and nearly had a heart attack. She didn't move very far though before realising they were floating on something in the water, having almost rolled off the edge. "You're awake. Good." It was Kai, simple and to the point as always though he sounded slightly relieved for unknown reasons. She listened in silence as Kai explained to her what had happened, before lifting her body slightly to be able to see the Blitzkriegs and roar curses they didn't even think she was capable of learning. "Wow, learn something new every day." Kai murmured to himself with a grin.

Sighing she flopped back onto the wooden door, rocking it slightly but not tipping it over. There was a surprising amount of room on the wooden replica door, Ian had recommended upscaling it for their purposes, and Charlotte and Kai were on opposite sides with about a ruler's length inbetween the two of them. Kai noticed her fingers seemed rather pale and coming from Russia where this usually meant frostbite he immediately took action taking her hands in his. As soon as he touched her hands his eyes widened, it felt as if there was no warm blood in them. Now seriously concerned his gaze flicked to her face, she blinked twice at him before smiling and he sighed with relief; she wasn't dead. He felt her fingers twitch in his hands in response to his puff of warm air that he'd breathed onto them, a contrast to the cool early morning breeze. "Come here, you're cold aren't you?" Surprised green eyes met serious yet concerned crimson, and Kai noticed the faintest blush on her cheeks as she obligingly wriggled closer, careful not to move too quickly. Kai too moved realising that if she came over to his side they'd probably flip over. One thing Kai noticed was that even once she'd stopped wriggling and was now close enough to feel his body warmth she hadn't taken her hands back, simply leaving them interwoven with his.

Tala, who had his binoculars out and was watching intensely, giggled with somewhat hysteric glee. He really shouldn't be up this early, especially not by the use of caffeine; he'd drunk at least five cups of coffee. The remaining Blitzkriegs knew they were going to be in for a hell of a day trying to contain Tala, but admittedly punishing Kai was worth it. At his worst Kai tended to be overconfident, rude and selfish, not to mention possessive and antisocial – traits they'd all had to bear the brunt of at one point or another. And so, this frozen experiment was 'karma' paying back Kai for being such a jerk. But one thing that had been bothering Bryan was the use of Charlotte in Tala's experiment, Charlotte whom Tala adored like she was 'pack' (wolf term, but Tala seemed to run on a very lupine mindset) and yet here she was receiving the whiplash from their revenge. _What are you planning Tala? _

_*Time Skip* About two hours later, six am _

_They say that the key to conversation is a topic of common interest, _Ian noted watching Charlotte and Kai happily chat to one another as the sun rose behind them. _What could those two possibly have in common that would have them chatting away? She's even managed to make Kai laugh! _Admittedly that had dumbfounded them all, when the sound of Kai's laughter echoed across the surface of the murky lake. Charlotte had laughed as well, quite a bit probably due to Kai's recounts of his team's misadventures and all the stupid things they did together.

One topic that kept coming up was all the torturous things they were going to do to Tala for leaving them out there. Surprisingly enough Charlotte was just as good at coming up with interesting and painful death threats for Tala as Kai was. "Active imagination is key," she grinned when he asked her about it, but she'd continued on with a wink, "Though it doesn't hurt to have a good knowledge of what kills humans." They'd laughed some more after that, and were just absently floating underneath the sunrise when Kai decided to sit up and yell at them to reel them in, they'd spent enough time out here freezing. Tala could see that Kai was closest to the banks, and so grinning mischievously he did exactly what Kai asked him to, and yanked the rope harshly pulling them closer to shore. The force of the pull also jolted Kai backwards onto an unsuspecting Charlotte, so he face planted into her. That obviously in itself would have been embarrassing enough, but no, that wasn't enough for Fate, who clearly had a bone to pick with him too. Why, you might ask?

He face planted into her cleavage. Tala couldn't have timed it better, and howled with laughter from the shore; they all did. Poor Kai was left profusely apologising and red as a beetroot, but Charlotte just laughed it off exclaiming "Well now you have more motivation than ever to kill him right?" Kai nodded, embarrassed to meet her gaze and under his breath he silently vowed to murder Tala once he got off the raft. Tala must've sensed this because he stopped pulling them in about twenty metres from the shore. Still on a massive caffeine high Tala cackled some more.  
>"Now you can't get me! It'll take you ages to reel yourselves in… or!" Suddenly hit with another idea he cut them loose leaving them effectively stranded on their wooden door. Kai raged at him, but snuck a glance at Charlotte who hadn't said a word and nearly had a heart attack at what he saw. She was taking off all the outermost layers of her clothing leaving them next to her on the raft. Even Tala was confused as she took of each shoe daintily, calming placing them together before grinning at him. Something about what she was doing rang alarm bells to Spencer, but he couldn't remember exactly what until he saw her put her feet in the water.<br>"Oh _**derʹmo (4). **_Tala, you'd better start running._**"  
><strong>_"What? Why?" At that moment Charlotte pushed herself into the water and swam for dear life towards the shore. Tala began to laugh, that would take her ages; there was no way she'd get there in time to do any serious damage to him.

At least he thought that until she tackled him with all the strength she had. She'd swum the entire length in record time (cold water makes you swim faster; faster you swim, faster you're out) and ran up on the shore not losing any of that momentum. Kai followed suit, stripping down and swimming over before jumping up and crash tackling Bryan and Ian. Tala's eyes widened as he found himself stuck underneath Charlotte, she was sitting on him with a triumphant grin on her face despite the fact she was soaking wet in a translucent dress and obviously freezing. "Payback's a bitch." Ian groaned from underneath the stockpile of Bryan, Spencer (who'd jumped in for the fun of it) and Kai.  
>"You have no idea."<p>

*_Present Moment* _

Silence reigned supreme as Kai finished his story. Charlotte turned to him with a grin, even though he didn't want to see anyone at that point and turned his head away. "Well Hitawari, it seems you have just mastered the first step on your journey to realising perhaps you're not perfect." A crimson eye glared at her with mock hurt and he smiled.  
>"What do you mean I'm not perfect?" She sighed, walking over and resting a hand on his shoulder thereby frightening everyone who was close enough – Kai was never one for physical contact.<br>"One day Kai you're going to wake up and realise that _no one_ is perfect, not even you; and when you do I will be there to say 'I goddamn told you so!'" A devious smirk crossed his face and his head cracked around to face her.  
>"You're implying you're going to be waking up next to me…?" A scarlet blush crossed her face, with Tala slow-clapping in the background having returned from his 'discussion'.<p>

_I'm too sexy for my love too sexy for my love__  
><em>_Love's going to leave me__  
><em>

A sly grin crossed her face as those familiar lyrics played across the speakers. Barely suppressing a laugh she met his gaze. "Oh listen Kai; it's your theme song."

**There's the end of Lab Rat! :D :D I'm sorry for the extensive sexual references; I channelled my inner-Tala while writing this chapter! **

**Armyx: How is this not rated M?**

**Rose: *rolls eyes* Oh please, Army. Compared to some of the stuff on here this is barely anything! **

**Tala: I'm with him, you're very perverted this chatper!**

**Rose: *glares at him* Coming from you, king of Sexual Innuendo!**

**Tala: *chuckles* Touché.**

**Here's the translations for the Russian I used: **

**(1) _idioty - idiots/morons__**  
><strong>_**

**_**(2) _**malyutka - little one**_**_**

**_**_**(3) _**Sladkie sny - Sweet dreams**_**_**_**

**_**_**_**(4) der'mo_** - shit (I told you I would teach you to swear one language at a time! XD)**_**_**_**_**

**Anyway, please please please please please PLEASE REVIEW!:D :D :D :D :D **


	10. Big Sister

10. Big Sister

**Sweet, double digits :D Gawrsh, this just keeps getting longer and longer! Thanks to all of you who reviewed, 'specially Nazrita and Rangerapprentice :D :D :D Now in this chapter we've got a special cameo, not by a blader though! **

**Mariah: *gasps* Who could it be?**

**Emily: *smiles pointing to the audience* You'll just have to read to find out!**

**Rose: *peeved* HEY! Guys, those were my lines! **

**Emily and Mariah: *sheepish* Sorry Rose…**

**Rose: *shrugs* Eh it's fine, while you're here, can you disclaimer for me? **

**Mariah: *smiling* MisstiqueRose does not own Beyblade, **

**Emily: *smiles as well* Or any of the songs she mentions. **

**Mariah and Emily: *chorused* She only owns her OC! We hope you enjoy this chapter of Little Russian Doll :D **

**Rose: *grins* Wow, you guys should come past more often! You're really good at disclaimers! :D**

"Speaking"

_Thinking (and or song lyrics, just check the context)_

"_Speaking in Russian (or another language)" – written in English_

"_**Phonetic Russian/Chinese pinyin (will be translated at the bottom)"**_

**Now on with the show! :D**

King almost laughed as he watched the way Charlotte and Kai taunted each other, back and forth like a tennis rally even whilst she breezed past him giving out people's orders. Kai would fire a shot as she passed, not too nasty but not a light blow either, and then Charlotte would respond with something equally as powerful. There was an element of affection to it though; they both clearly cared for one another despite Kai's cold façade of pretending he didn't. Something that didn't escape King's notice though was the people who tensed each time Kai made her laugh or smile – Masamune, Oliver, Lee, Kyoya and Raul to name names.

"You see it too, don't you brother?" Queen's soft question made him smile, she was just as observant as he was but more outgoing about showing it. They were both shy people naturally, reverting into each other as after all in one another they had a custom made friend since day one, why would they need anyone else? Though they'd found new friends in Julia and Raul who were twins like them they couldn't find many other pairs of female/male twins. That didn't mean they had no other friends, but they just had separate groups of friends instead.

Something King had immediately noted was how happy the waitress had been when King had told her Queen was his twin – she'd said something to Tala in Russian who'd laughed and said something back, but neither Queen nor himself spoke a lick of Russian so whatever she'd said remained a mystery. Queen was always one for mysteries though, King swore she'd become a private detective when they were older, so she was trying to work out what she could have possibly said but there were a lot of options and not many clues. So now Queen was trying to interrogate her with as few direct questions as possible which was working about as well as Masamune trying to hide his jealously of Kai – translation, not at all. The waitress breezed off all questions with answers that only gave room for more questions, but she seemed to be waiting for something in particular to come out of Queen's mouth…

A quick witted remark poured from Kai's lips causing another giggle from Charlotte, and Masamune seethed – something that both King and Queen found rather funny to watch. Suddenly Queen saw it, the tiniest regard for the salt and pepper haired teen out of the corner of the waitress' eyes with a slight smirk her walk not faltering in the slightest. "So, Masamune; you wanna tell me what's bugging you so much?" Her voice rang out crisp, clear and tinged with amusement across the hall causing Masamune to blush like a beetroot even though she never even looked at him whilst speaking. Everyone turned to Masamune with hints of grins on their faces and glints in their eyes – it wasn't hard to guess that the Gen Gen Galaxy member had a crush on the waitress. A soft grumble of some kind of excuse left Masamune's lips, but that clearly wasn't good enough for anyone, not even Yu who was sitting next to him and leaned in right beside him to hear what he said but couldn't understand it. "I can't hear you mate. You're going to have to speak a little louder." Charlotte was leaning on the back of his chair now having walked over silently as he grumbled, and as he heard her voice his face went an even deeper shade of red, if that was even possible.

She was about to interrogate him further when an even softer noise than his mumbling caught her attention and her head cracked round like a dog that had heard its prey in the distance. A tall dark stranger wearing a black fedora slipped almost silently into the room and she grinned to herself before walking away from Masamune, no longer interested in his answer allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief. It looked as if she was going to confront the unseen stranger, but instead she turned to Queen with a smirk. "You've been trying to figure out what I said to Tala earlier, haven't you?" Dumbfounded, Queen nodded. _Am I really that easy to read? _Charlotte laughed before grinning cheerily at the awestruck twins. "I was excited because you guys are a pair of male/female twins…" They smiled at her comment, the novelty of their twin-ness, especially considered their polar opposite appearance was something they'd become accustomed to over the years. She shook her head, still smiling brightly. "Not for the reason you think though. I'll explain later." Grinning she produced the DJ station remote and held her hands in the air. "Right now though, I'm going to introduce a special act – Tyson, the mike if you please!"

The silver cylinder gleamed as it flew in a perfect arc through the air and was caught by the white fingerless gloved hand of Charlotte, whose hand-eye coordination had never been the best so was secretly glad she didn't drop it. "Alright ladies, gentlemen, children, Enrique," She beamed at him once more causing Oliver to cry out in confusion.  
>"Why do you keep doing that, you address him separately?"<br>"Simple, as far as I can tell he's not a lady," She paused and smirked. "I think; he's not a gentleman, nor is he a child though it's the closest category calling him a child would be insulting to children everywhere. So you get your own class, although if the monsters were still here I wouldn't have to say your name; you'd fit right in." A snicker could be heard around the room underneath the roaring laugh of the Scotsman at the expense of a red-faced Enrique. Striding onward she turned back to addressing the audience. "So ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce, for a one-time only performance…" The stranger gave her a curt nod, but you could see the smile on his face and she winked. "I'll let him introduce himself, actually..." Punching the air from the DJ station Ian pushed a button grinning like a lunatic and Tala pulled a guitar out of nowhere. Really, no one knew where he'd gotten it from.

The stranger pulled out his own mike and suddenly '_Back In Time' _by Pitbull from Men In Black 3 came on and the stranger began to rap it splitting the lines equally with Bryan who'd gotten Charlotte's mike and jumped the bar to perform.  
><em> Let's, <em>the stranger exclaimed,_ excuse me baby, _Bryan replied as if he were flirting with Salima much to Kane's disgust. Salima didn't seem to mind however, giving Bryan a cute smile. _  
>Go, yeah you baby, <em>this line followed the same pattern as the first, where the stranger would say the line relating to 'let's go back in time' and Bryan would say the rest, flirting with one of the girls. _  
>Back, ooh you groovy baby<br>In, let's make a movie baby  
>Time, excuse me baby<br>Let's, yeah you baby  
>Go, ooh you groovy baby<br>Back in, let's make a movie baby  
>Time, <em>Bryan tossed his mike back to Charlotte, who caught it with a grin as the stranger stepped into the centre of the room. Dressed like someone out of 'Men In Black' himself right down to the sunglasses he really suited the song, Mariam half expected him to have an alien blaster or something in his back pocket.

_It's Mr Worldwide, Agent A, Reporting live, _He beat his chest with his fist proudly, strutting forward a bit so he was right in the centre of the room. _  
>From Cape Canaveral, MK, Big Syphe, let's ride<em>

_Back, back, in, in, time, _As he exclaimed those lines, Tala played the guitar riff identically to the recording with a smirk on his face. This was something he'd been practising just for tonight.

_Baby, ohhh baby  
>Ohhh baby, my sweet baby<br>You're the one, _Charlotte sang this bit with a smile, high fiving the stranger as Tala played the riff once more and yelled out excitedly. Continuing on not missing a beat the stranger turned to face the Breaker's table and rapped the next bit of the verse.

_Miami equals black mask, black clothes  
>With a little bit of rope to tie, I flipped it, <em>He beat his chest then high-fived Max before strutting onwards to the table of Team Psykick.  
><em>Black suits, white shirts, black glasses with a matching tie<br>Like Agent J or Agent K, and I wish the whole world would, _He high fived a couple of the Psykicks, fist pounding Goki before going round the circle to the Barthez Battalion. The tables were arranged in a type of circle starting from the left of the bar. The order went: Breakers, Team Psykick, Barthez Battalion, PPB All Starz, Saint Shields, Justice Five, Blitzkrieg Boys and special guests, Gen Gen Galaxy, the Twins table (King, Queen and F Dynasty), White Tigers and finally on the right side of the bar the Majestics.

He turned and leaned over Mathilda's chair and rapped the next line as if trying to make her understand; Mathilda grinned looking up at him over her shoulder.  
><em>Ok, i'm tryin' make a billion out of 15 cents,<br>Understand,_ Looking down he met Mathilda's eyes, lowering his glasses so Mathilda could stare into a pair of aqua eyes, not quite green and not quite blue but a mixture of the two, filled with mischief and friendliness – Mathilda thought he seemed like a nice guy._ Understood, _he put the black glasses back up his nose obscuring his eyes once more, "Shame," murmured Mathilda, and moved onwards to the Saint Shields with a grin where he was received warmly by everyone but Ozuma who was still in his conspiracy theory prone state.

_I'm a go-getter, mover, shaker, culture, bury a boarder, record-breaker won't cha,  
>Give credit where credit is due don't cha,<br>_Giving Mariam a fist pound and a salute he moved onwards to the Justice Five, he was really getting into his performance and blending into the eccentric bunch of people throughout the room. Mystel was already grooving in his seat, Brooklyn was clapping along, Ming-Ming was batting eyelashes (much to the disgust of every other female in the room, Charlotte especially Kai thought somewhat bitterly) and Garland and Crusher were just generally enjoying themselves. This horrible flirt attempt didn't go notice by the stranger, who looked at Ming-Ming and grinned carnivorously as the next line rolled around.  
><em>Know that I don't give a number two, <em>Charlotte cracked up laughing, as did almost everyone when the stranger slid away from Ming-Ming, as if to say 'I don't give a number two about HER, that's for sure!' A couple of people clapped, funnily enough one of them was Mystel as the mysterious rapper made his way over to the table with Mr Dickinson, Hiro and Spencer; Tala was standing over next to the bar with his guitar and a small amp on wheels.

_Y'all just halfway thoughts  
>Not worth the back of my mind, <em>With a dismissive flick of the wrist he ignored Hiro and Mr D – Hiro was secretly relived they weren't included, instead turning to Spencer with a big grin. Spencer smiled back; he'd always liked this kid. He put an arm around Spencer's shoulder, the way males do, and nodded seriously as if this next line were something important. Spencer nodded as he rapped the next bit, trying so hard not to laugh.  
><em>But to understand the future, we have to go back in time. <em>

Tala's guitar riff played out once more and Charlotte happily sang the chorus. _Baby, ohhh baby  
>Ohhh baby, my sweet baby<br>You're the one_

The stranger tipped his hat and nodded in time with the beat during the chorus, arms folded head down – _it was one of the best Kai impressions I've ever seen_, Bryan joked to himself. As the rap kicked back in, the stranger progressed to Gen Gen Galaxy where his arrival was met with mixed reactions; Gingka, Madoka, Yu and Kenta were all excited to see what would happen next, Tsubasa was just enjoying the music, Benkei was really getting into it and Kyoya and Masamune were pouting for reasons unknown.

_I got the globe, yeah, in the palm of my hand  
>Wherever I spin it, that's where I land, <em>the stranger did a bit of a spinning shuffle before grinning and ruffling Yu's hair, giving miscellaneous high-fives all around the table. With a quick slide he moved on to King and Queen, but not Julia and Raul.  
><em>Let's save the world<br>Men In Black I know you understand, _He tipped his hat to Queen who smiled, giving King a quick fist bump.  
><em>Stop the movement, <em>The music stopped and he posed, motioning to Raul._  
>They can try if they want to, <em>He held the mike out for Raul who provided a quick burst of Spanish. _  
><em>_Ignorar lo latino, si,__ they can try if they want to. _Giving Raul a big high-five as well as Julia he skidded onward to the White Tigers who beamed at him happily, even Lee really liked this guy – he had skill!

_What Pit solves is a bit raw  
>Took like jigsaw and built it all<br>Despite a big loss, I'd bet it all  
>And fought blind against the world, Ray Charles, <em>He'd skilfully gone round the table giving out high-fives, even tipping his hat politely to Mariah. With a small burst of speed he moved on to the Majestics, the last table in the circle.  
><em>Y'all just halfway thoughts<br>Not worth the back of my mind, _He gave Enrique the dismissive hand flick much to Johnny's amusement before turning to the remaining members of the table and tapping the side of his head, as if asking them to 'get it memorized.'_  
>But to understand the future, we have to go back in time<em>

Tala was really having fun on the guitar, he loved this riff, simple but so cool! Charlotte took over again as the stranger did his Kai-like stance before she chucked the mike back to Bryan as they repeated the section they'd done at the start. Bryan liked rapping; whenever the Blitzkriegs performed Bleed It Out or Burn It Down by Linkin Park he was always the one to rap.

_Let's excuse me baby  
>Go, yeah you baby<br>Back, ooh you groovy baby  
>In, let's make a movie baby<br>Time, excuse me baby  
>Let's, yeah you baby<br>Go, ooh you groovy baby  
>Back in, let's make a movie baby<br>Time_

Dubstep blasted through the speakers, though not because they'd changed the song – it was just part of this one. Strobe lights filled the air causing "sheer awesomeness" as Ian put it and suddenly out of nowhere Kenny jumped up still wearing the leopard print pants and began dancing to the dubstep… if you could call it dancing – it might have been a strobe-induced seizure or some kind of tribal dance. None the less it was entertaining though he might have pulled a few muscles and was going to definitely wake up sore tomorrow. The mysterious figure tipped his hat in respect with a grin as the music changed back to a kind of sixties-feel and the strobe lights shut off. The chorus repeated once more courtesy of Charlotte before with a grin the whole thing shut down leaving the mysterious figure centre stage, where he chucked his fedora hat halfway across the room; fedoras make surprisingly good Frisbees. Charlotte caught the hat before examining it closely, and when she looked up she wasn't pleased.

"ALEX! THIS IS MY HAT! WHY YOU STEAL IT? YOU HAVE YOUR OWN!" The mysterious figure, whose name was revealed to be Alex, shrugged shaking a mop of dirty blonde hair only slightly lighter in colour than Charlotte's and took of the sunglasses placing them in his pocket.  
>"Couldn't find mine," Simple, effective and highly infuriating. Charlotte nearly screamed with rage, letting off a vehement curse in Russian. Alex just laughed; he'd only been learning Russian for about a week so he didn't really get what she'd said. "Chill, <em><strong>korotkiĭ(1).<strong>_ It's not like I'm keeping yours; just one performance, I think someone's nicked mine so till then, yours it is sis." Kai's jaw dropped, did he just call her 'sis'?  
>"It all makes sense!" Lee called out happily. "He's your brother! That's why you introduced him, and he called you 'sis' and 'shortie'! He's your big brother!" Alex cracked up laughing and Charlotte looked slightly indignant as she faced Lee.<br>"You're mostly right. He's my brother, but he's actually my younger brother. I'm the older one, he's the taller one." Now it was Lee's jaw that dropped, he was YOUNGER than her? But how, they looked so similar? Jade eyes redirected their focus to King and Queen with a slight smile. "You guys wanted to know why I was excited about you two being boy/girl twins? I want you both to meet my twin, Alex." She motioned to her giant of a brother, who appeared behind her.

"I'm older," She continued proudly, before he rested his chin on top of her head.  
>"One minute shortie. One stinking minute." She grinned and side-stepped causing him to trip slightly sticking out her tongue as she did so.<br>"Makes all the difference brother dearest." King and Queen had their mouths agape for a moment before grinning brightly. Someone else who was just like them, today just got better and better. Max seemed deep in thought before jumping up excitedly clapping his hands together.  
>"I GOT IT! I GOT IT! I GOT IT! I GOT IT!" The tall twins, Alex and Charlotte, both turned around to face the bubbly blonde who ran up to them excited. "He's the missing link!" The twins cocked their heads confused, looked at one another then back to Max.<br>"What am I?" Alex asked curiously, leaning over slightly so he could hear the blonde properly. Not that it was necessary, Max was yelling so loud even Ian could hear him.

"The missing link between me and Charlotte! See, people keep saying she and I are twins, and I keep saying no, we don't look the same." He looked over at King and Queen with an apologetic grin but they nodded, waving off what would have been a long and tedious apology as Max dug himself deeper with his words. Drawing in a deep breath he continued on his hyperactive rant. "So when she said you're her twin it makes sense, you look like her!" They looked at one another before turning back to Max, both of them raising eyebrows.  
>"You don't say?" The two of them chorused, sarcasm dripping from their voices. Max sweatdropped, realising they'd obviously figured THAT one out a long time ago. Sighing Charlotte turned to Max with a bit of a smile on her face.<br>"He shares a reasonable portion of my DNA Max, it would be expected that we would look similar. Julia and Raul have the same hair, eyes and flexibility – traits they share due to their DNA. Even King and Queen have the same eyes and the same smile." She turned and beamed at the twins, all of whom smiled back – Queen especially. It was nice to know someone else though she and King smiled the same way. "So why did you call my brother the missing link, because at first I thought you meant between man and beast." She smirked turning to face him, "Which wouldn't be entirely inaccurate." Alex glared at her.  
>"<em><strong>Tu sei puttana.(2)"<strong>_ Enrique gasped in shock at the male twin's Italian curse.  
>"How dare you speak to a lady like that? You should be ashamed of yourself sir!" Alex rolled his eyes, and pointed to Raul's glass with a grin. Raul swiftly downed the contents before chucking it to him, trying not to chuck up. Alex caught the glass and in one fluid motion threw it narrowly missing the blonde Italian's head. Johnny practically wet himself laughing at the expression on Enrique's face, Oliver giggled as well; even Robert was trying to supress a chuckle which was a hilarious feat in itself as people didn't think the German even knew how to laugh.<p>

"She's my sister, not yours. Besides, she's called me worse things." He turned to his sister as if challenging her to find something more insulting, and the list of insults (the majority of which were either in Russian or Chinese) that poured out of her mouth surprised almost everyone but the Russians who'd taught her most of them. After she'd finished, he turned to her in a mocking Russian accent and grinned. "You're spending too much time with the Vodka drinkers. Only true Russians can swear like that." A vein on Tala's forehead visibly twitched, it wasn't that he didn't like Alex's fake accent, it's that he was GOOD at it! "Besides, in Soviet Russia, everyone would be drunk by now," Alex continued on, not breaking accent. "And there'd probably be someone dead in the corner. Preferably the man-whore over there." Laughter rippled around the room, and before anyone could ask Alex how he'd developed such a good mock accent he grinned brightly. "I play too much Zombies. Nikolai was a good teacher," he paused thoughtfully as he recalled the character he was mimicking. "And a drunk."

With a laugh Charlotte turned to him, not in her Russian accent but in actual Russian. "_And that's different to our current Russian teachers how?" _Alex laughed nodding, translating for the benefit of those who didn't understand.  
>"Good point. I prefer Nikolai, at least he can't throw things at me when I beat him at CoD." All eyes turned to Ian who scratched his head cheekily.<br>"Not my fault the bastard can cheat."  
>Alex laughed all the while still maintaining his Russian accent. "You can't cheat in Zombies Ian, you just suck." Bryan roared with laughter from the bar, the only safe place from any projectiles that Ian might throw from the DJ station. Spencer too laughed, because he was big enough to catch anything Ian threw at him, and throw it back with twice as much power. And Tala laughed because Tala is a lunatic. No more needs to be said. Charlotte giggled, because she was a one a girl and two Bryan may or may not have loaned her a pair of pistols to shoot things that were thrown at her for target practice. Alex spotted the silver glint of the pistols and called out to his sister.<p>

"No fair! I've been playing CoD for years, yet YOU get to carry the pistols? What gives? I'm even better than you at laser-tag!" Realising she was the one wielding the weapons; he held up his hands returning to his normal voice. "Just quickly: are they blanks?" Oliver's eyes widened when she reached for one of the pistols, not because it was a weapon but because she'd strapped it to her upper thigh. Alex recorded this silently, making a mental note to do something about his sister's suitor. With a surprising amount of skill she produced two pistols, she didn't remember what they were specifically – Ian had droned on about the weapon mods when he'd given them to her before Bryan took one and nearly shot him with it. Charlotte played with one pistol for a bit before looking up at her brother.  
>"No," A dark smirk crossed her face. "You want one?"<p>

Nodding Alex grinned hopefully. "Just one bullet, I promise." She tossed it in the air and he caught it, and with the same fluidity that he'd used for the glass he fired a single shot at Oliver's glass, causing the entire thing to explode and disrupt the foundations of the table slightly. Poor old Oliver screamed in fright as Alex pulled on his MIB shades and glared at him. It wasn't difficult for Oliver to realise what the message was 'Stay away from my sister or your head's next.' Alex took a look at the silver plated pistol, examining it calmly in his hands. "Nice weight distribution, easy reloading, little recoil, inbuilt silencer… this is a decent assassin weapon sissy," He turned to Bryan because he knew that's where she'd gotten it from. "What the fuck were you thinking? She can't shoot, she'll kill someone! Probably herself!" Three slightly muffled gunshots rang out across the room and Alex's eyes widened as the dartboard that had been hanging next to the bar suddenly developed an exact hole where the bullseye should have been. _Perfect aim, _Alex thought to himself remembering Bryan's shooting lessons before grinning at his sister who was smirking triumphantly at him. "And somehow you still suck at CoD. What sorcery is this?"

_*Flashback* _

"Hold it steady, two hands – second hand is for support so grip it like this," Bryan gently repositioned her left hand over her right which grasped the black training gun firmly. Spencer had enforced a 'no firearms or weapons' rule up until they'd semi-adopted Charlotte (and or her brother when he came over), then it became a 'no firearms or weapons unless teaching' rule. Bryan, who sometimes just needed to fire a few bullets at Shrimp, got around this by saying he was teaching Charlotte and then make Shrimp her target. "She needs a moving target; people aren't going to stand still in a gunfight!" Decent reasoning, much to Spencer's annoyance; not that he'd have been able to stop Bryan with weapons anyway – Bryan would just find another way around it.

Alex had more power behind his melee weapons and was less affected by recoil due to his strength, but his accuracy wasn't all that brilliant whereas Charlotte was the reverse, her melee attacks were more based on speed and tactics (taught by Tala and Shrimp) because she lacked physical strength and recoil was a huge problem for her because of this. But her accuracy, after they'd given her a silencer (she jumped at sudden loud sounds like gunshots, even if she was the one firing them) was actually rather good. Initially she'd been tentative towards the weapon, almost frightened to fire it but once Bryan convinced her that she wouldn't die she began to relax and found her strength. They were working their way up the weapons chain with surprising ease; next week's lesson would be on machine guns as well as disarming tactics. As Ian had so brilliantly put it "Now if some psycho appears with a gun they'll be prepared for action!"

Shutting her eyes, Charlotte drew in a deep breath visualising the target (a lovely porcelain vase) in her mind's eye. Tuning out all noise – Bryan's voice, the boys yelling, the radio, she focused solely on her target mentally creating a bullseye of the exact place she wanted to hit. Her eyes cracked open suddenly and removing her left hand she fired a single bullet, the recoil flicking the gun slightly upwards along with her hand. The muffled crack of gunfire startled the other boys into appearing, once they saw the scene though they were speechless. The vase was shattered perfectly – as Spencer analysed the scene and worked out where the bullet had hit her realised it was dead centre. Once Spencer delivered the verdict shock froze the remaining Blitzkriegs, but Alex gave his sister a small round of applause. Bryan sniffed dramatically, embracing her in a crushing hug. "I'm so proud of you!" A warm bubble of pride swelled up inside of her as well as a feeling of hilarity; _this is the only place in the world where a perfect gunshot through an expensive vase is cause for celebration. _  
>Ian was doing his happy little leprechaun jig with Tala and Bryan was proudly yelling out that he'd taught her. The whole scene had her laughing as Spencer cheerily went off to make her a celebratory cake. <em>I love these guys. <em>

*_Present Moment*_

In response to Ian's howl of laughter she looked up at him with a malicious grin, motioning for Alex to give her back her other pistol. Shrugging he did so, what harm could she possibly do, before spinning around to face Max. "You were saying buddy? Sorry, I kind of got everyone a little off track." Max laughed, happy to continue on despite the incredibly strange interruption.  
>"Well the one thing I noticed was you hair is a lighter brown than hers but darker than mine. Plus, her eyes are green," <em>Jade, <em>Kai automatically corrected in his head, _Her eyes are jade, idiot_. He blushed slightly as if he'd said it out loud. _Not that I know because I get lost in them or anything… of course not._ "And mine are blue, but yours are kind of in the middle. See, you're what separates me from her. The missing link." The twins looked at one another with a grin.  
>"That actually…" began Alex, but he was finished by Charlotte, "makes sense." Max beamed proud of himself – now it all made sense! Or at least, until the twins came to a valuable point, "Wait, if you're our missing triplet then why aren't you tall like us?" That definitely stumped Max; Charlotte was alone already slightly taller than him, and Alex was almost a head taller than her. Defeated Max's head slumped and he sighed sadly, he looked like the human version of a sad puppy. Empathy was one of Charlotte's stronger traits, she looked as gloomy as Max felt.<br>"I guess I'm not your twin," His voice was filled with dejection, until Alex scooped him up in a crushing bro-hug.

"How about you be our honorary 'almost-twin'?" Max's eyes lit up at the idea and he perked back up immediately.  
>"The Blitzkriegs are our unofficial big brothers, bar Shrimp who is unofficial little big brother; I guess more unofficial family can't hurt!" Charlotte brightly stated much to Ian's annoyance. Max grinned and hugged his new 'unofficial twin' siblings.<br>"Thanks guys! This is the best! I don't have any siblings of my own, so it's nice of you to share with me!" Charlotte cocked her head while trying to work out what he'd meant _sharing, but what are we sharing?_ but Alex just shrugged and assumed it was some kind of compliment.  
>"Anytime…?"<p>

A soft tinkle of a little bell played over the loudspeaker, programmed to play only at a certain point in time. Bryan seemed to freeze at the sound as did Ian with Spencer straightening up suddenly. Charlotte checked the clock behind the bar and Alex nicked the black fedora from her head as she did so, spinning around and tipping it to the audience of curious onlookers. "That's my cue to go; it was nice meeting all of you." He tipped his hat once and pulled his shades on, raising his fingers in a mock army salute as he walked out the door. Charlotte impulsively touched her cat's bell necklace, looking up at nothing in particular. Max returned to his chair upon the insistence of Tala and suddenly the room was alive with conspiring murmurs of what that little bell could have meant for it to have such a sharp impact upon the Russians and their twin friends (for once it wasn't just Ozuma). Tala turned to Charlotte, no words were uttered not even a gesture, just a single gaze was enough of a hint for Charlotte to briskly trot off behind the door marked 'Staff Only'; a door she wouldn't reappear out of for quite some time. Walking out into the centre of the room Tala finally addressed the audience who all fell silent simply under his icy gaze.

"Ladies and gentlemen, that little bell was our pre-planned cue. It's time to move on to our main event!" Tala didn't even regard the door, but as he heard it clink shut behind her he smirked slightly. _It's showtime, Kitten. _

**SUSPENSE! That's the end of Big Sister! I know, I know – a lot of guy-like gun references (I had to get my brother to help me with those, he plays a lot of CoD too) but trust me, there's something special coming next couple of chapters! :D :D :D :D :D **

**The Russian/Italian used: **

**1 - **_**korotkiĭ - shortie **_

**2 - **_**Tu sei puttana – You are a bitch (BWAHAHA! One language at a time!)**_

**Anyway, what did Tala mean by 'showtime'? Where's Charlotte gone? Why am I asking all these questions? The answers to all these and more in the next chapter of Little Russian Doll! PLEASE REVIEW! :D :D :D :D :D **


	11. Princess

11. Princess

**Hey there readers, MisstiqueRose again! Wow, eleven chapters! When I started out I never figured it would get this long! :D Thanks to all my reviewers, you're all awesome! *hands out some of Spencer's jellybean stash* :D :D Now we're nearing the main event, so what's going to happen? You'll have to read to find out! **

***pauses and looks around* Where is everybody? **

**Lee: *runs up panting* Sorry…I'm late… **

**Rose: *beams* It's cool Lee, can you disclaimer for me? **

**Lee: *recovered mostly* MisstiqueRose does not own Beyblade, she only owns her OC! **

**Rose: *claps hands* Thank you Lee! :D Oh, and I feel I should apologize, this chapter's not exactly as funny as the last few, but a little more suspenseful as we make our way to the main event!**

"Speaking"

_Thinking (and or song lyrics, just check the context)_

"_Speaking in Russian (or another language)" – written in English_

"_**Phonetic Russian/Chinese pinyin (will be translated at the bottom)"**_

**On with the story! :D :D :D **

Everyone, Mr Dickinson and Hiro included, was quickly ushered out of the grand hall after the chime of the bell, and as they wandered down the ornate yet somewhat eerie corridor whispers of what may await them flew through the air. Many were nervous, anticipating with a kind of fear that comes from suspicion and past experience – this wouldn't be the first time the Blitzkriegs had scared them all with a prank until they screamed and someone wet themselves, usually Raul, Oliver or Enrique but it varied depending on what the fear tactic was, for example making use of Steve's irrational bird phobia. But some, like Max and Julia, were feeling more positive and seemed excited for what lay in store at the end of the passageway.

The party stopped at a pair of elaborate oak panel doors and Tala turned to face them all with a hint of a smile on his face. "Welcome, to our viewing room." He sounded detached, emotionless and compared to the almost-warm Tala of earlier it was rather spooky. Slowly he opened the doors revealing dozens of chairs, couches and the occasional beanbag, all set up facing a giant screen (that if you looked closely could see was hiding a stage behind it) at the back of the room. "Please, make yourselves comfortable," Tala continued, his voice retaining a slightly cool tone that made people wonder what they were hiding. Cautious heads poked in the door, no one wanting to be the test dummy for any traps that may wait for them.  
>"Move it. Now!" Bryan's sharp command echoed from the back of the pack and they all hurried inside lest they set off Bryan who was known to be the most aggressive Blitzkrieg.<p>

Something that didn't escape the notice of many of the teams was the kind of already-lived-in feel the room had to it, as if this was someone's living room in their house and they'd just gone out. There were clothes, books, a few toys and other miscellaneous objects scattered on a couple of the chairs, the room smelled faintly of a kind of lavender perfume – as if someone had sprayed it to freshen up the room a while ago yet the scent still lingered and some of the couches had indents of repeated use pressed into them. Salima's eyes flicked to the shredded curtains and a slightly scratched sofa; _maybe not someone's house but some_**thing**… Shivering slightly she blushed as Kane wrapped an arm around her shoulders, deciding it best to dismiss the thought for now. "You cold, 'Lima?" A small nod was the best response she could muster as her mind tried desperately to ignore the frightening concept of what may have been living inside this room and focus on her adoring beau instead. Though Kane often tried his best to appear tough, when it came to Salima he was so gentle and caring it was hard to believe his cold persona even existed. Jim and Goki snickered slightly even though they knew Kane would kill them if he heard; something about Kane having a heart was funny for them to witness regardless of the consequences.

As everyone got comfortable and Yu was safely seated much to his dismay; he'd discovered one of the couches to be incredibly bouncy and so was bouncing away to his heart's content until he was caught literally by Benkei, Tala and the other Blitzkriegs took to the stage and even they didn't seem to fit the room's living aura though none of them seemed phased by it. Lee certainly was though, the idea of being in someone else's territory, especially something that didn't quite seem human, did not appeal to the neko-jin or his team all of whom appeared incredibly on edge; even Rei was having difficulty sitting still and not scanning the room every ten seconds or so. It seemed to be making the Breakers a little nervous watching their usually composed team-mate suddenly become wary and on alert, even Kai sat up and began to take notice of the surroundings.

"Ladies, gentlemen, children, Enrique," Tala's voice startled the nervous crowd back to reality and with a carnivorous wolf-like grin he continued to speak, well aware of the fear that seemed to hang in the air. "As you may know, this week each team was asked to do a double challenge – both a music video and a live performance – based off a single song of a particular artist. Since the All Starz won last week's challenge, they got to choose the artist for each team and from there each team chose their own song," His icy blue eyes flicked to the All Starz who waited awkwardly unsure of whether or not to gloat about their victory. "For the Breakers, they chose Jason Derulo – a big mistake when the Breakers pulled off their surprisingly awesome rendition of 'Fight For You' both on stage and screen." Max and Tyson high-fived before high-fiving and fist-pounding everyone in their team with big grins on their faces, it was a team effort they were definitely proud of, even Kai. "For the Psykicks they chose Taylor Swift, which despite Salima's best efforts wasn't their best performance," Shrugging the Psykicks nodded, it was true; country music like Taylor Swift had them completely out of their technological element.

"For the Majestics it was One Direction, which actually went better than we all initially feared it would. Johnny pulls off Zayn surprisingly well," Spencer was continuing now, Tala was watching out for something in particular that no one else seemed to be capable of seeing. The Majestics nodded, with Johnny grinning slightly at the mention of his awesome recreation of Zayn. "Then for the White Tigers they chose the Black Eyed Peas, which once again only blew up in their faces when Mariah unleashed her inner Fergie and we discovered all the remaining Tigers can rap," Lee beamed proudly at his team – considering how off their usual style the Black Eyed Peas were they'd done a brilliant job. "For Gen Gen Galaxy it was Coldplay, admittedly not their best work but an interesting rendition of 'Paradise' with excellent harmony vocals from Madoka," Madoka blushed and smiled and Gingka patted her on the back happily.

"Our royal duo was given the slightly unfair task of Regina Spektor, who I'm honestly surprised the All Starz have even heard of." Bryan added with a kind of contemptuous smirk in the direction of Michael. "But the two of them produced a beautiful rendition of 'Samson' with an epic piano solo thanks to King so I guess the All Starz powers of foresight are not as brilliant as they first thought with over half the teams rocking the choices they were given," Queen and King fist-pounded without even looking at one another and the All Starz were beginning to look sheepish. "The Justice 5 were dealt a blow with the choice of Celine Dion, something I don't think my eardrums will ever recover from." Ming-Ming beamed before she realised he was insulting her and then glared viciously.

"F Dynasty had to contend with Shakira, which was actually the single worst strategic move I've ever heard of in the history of this entire competition." Bryan's smirk had only increased since he began speaking, and now it was infuriating Michael. A couple of the teams giggled at this statement – that really wasn't a good plan by the All Starz.  
>"Hey!" Bryan snorted, continuing on as if he hadn't even heard Michael.<br>"Giving a Latin pop star who sings many of her songs in Spanish to a Spanish circus duo, one of whom possesses a voice powerful enough to rival Shakira herself isn't strategy; it's forking over easy points." Bryan confidently provided as the teams glared at the All Starz, no one liked the idea of another team getting easy points that they had to work so hard for.

The scoring system for the competition were points based off the challenges that occurred every few days, the more points you had, the closer you came to winning the whole show. With each individual win of a challenge the team that won were given perks in the next challenge; perks that unless used wisely went to waste. At the moment the scoreboard was pretty evened out with the All Starz brash decisions, but the Blitzkriegs had the potential to streak ahead...if their plan didn't fail.

"It's like assigning us Linkin Park and expecting us to fail; we unleash total and utter domination. With that said, great job F Dynasty, major respect for combining both the Spanish and the English versions of 'Objection/Te Aviso, Te Anuncio'." Ian beamed cheerily at the twins who beamed back; they always adored praise especially from people who weren't often fond of giving it. That was something that was annoying Ozuma, they were complimenting ever team they could – something they'd **never** done before - and deliberately dragging out their opening speech…_Why? What've they got to hide? They've had enough time to prepare…unless they're stalling for something in particular…But what? _Those questions swirled in his head and niggled at the back of his mind, even as the Blitzkriegs continued onto his own team, now it was Ian doing the talking.

"We move on now to the Saint Shields who were assigned Rihanna; and Mariam have you been holding out on us because you've got an awesome voice!" Mariam smiled as a couple of people congratulated her, even blushing a little as Max reiterated the Blitzkriegs comment. "The Barthez Battalion were given Adam Lambert, and Miguel has proved to us all that his vocal range is strangely wide for a male but it was a good performance guys," The Battalion seemed really happy with this news- secretly they'd been worried the teams hadn't liked their performance. "Of course, by being able to choose they chose an artist that worked to their strengths – Gym Class Heroes. We don't need to tell you that they were good." Michael nodded confidently, but received many a glare for it. Tala's grin expanded as all the Blitzkriegs eyed the All Starz with cruel grins and suddenly the All Starz remembered why they should be running for the hills.

"As we've seen, the All Starz choices tended to backfire dramatically, but then what about the artist they chose for us?" Ian began, giving the frightened Americans a vicious leer.  
>"Now, these guys probably thought they were pretty funny with their choice for us, that we wouldn't be able to pull it off." Bryan chuckled, his fists balling at the thought of the All Starz having a laugh at his team's expense.<br>"Well, we've been dealt worse hands, and I have a feeling they're going to eat their words of 'you can't pull off the impossible,' when they see what we've got planned…" Spencer grinned darkly, a truly bone-chilling sight as Tala took to the front of the stage, staring the All Starz straight in the eyes with a glare almost as icy as Charlotte's 'Medusa' gaze; he'd learned from the best.  
>"For those of you who don't remember, they gave a team full of young men an impossible task…" A pause emphasised the drama in the air and Tala tilted his head up and smirked, uttering a single name.<p>

"Hatsune Miku."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Scene Change (Not Time Skip/Flashback)*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

She tugged the sleek midnight-black dress up over her body with surprising ease before examining her reflection in the mirror. The dress was tight but not unbreathable, made of a soft material that stretched as she bent it had slashes that looked like stripes exposing some of her bare skin – but thankfully not in revealing places. It was sleeveless and strapless; the hem stopped higher than her mid-thigh, but thankfully it was more like a leotard with a skirt built in so there was little exposure. Attached to the leotard/dress at the base of her spine was a long black tail, mechanically programmed to respond to the movements of her body. The tail had a cute pale green bow attached to it towards the end, and it swayed gently back and forth as she turned around. Sliding a pair of long gloves that were made of the same material as the dress onto her arms and up past her elbow she smiled a little; as she slipped the gloves up to their full height it was almost impossible to tell where the dress stopped and where they began. They had the same tattered slash-like style the further up the arm they went as the dress and seemed to make her nails appear slightly elongated as well as her arms.

With a smile she reached over and pulled out a pair of boots and socks out of a small box on the counter, admittedly her favourite part of the costume. And why wouldn't they be? Matte black platform ankle boots with an almost invisible buckle that were amazingly easy to move about in yet still incredibly stylish with a nice heel, not ridiculously high but not too low either. She slipped one of the socks on, these matte-black socks that went all the way up to her mid-thigh, barely centimetres below the end of the dress. They like the gloves had the similar slashing pattern that progressed the further up her legs they went. She sashayed further down the counter, lined with mirrors and lights it looked like a traditional dressing room from an old movie, and eyed a wig with a hint of tiredness. It took her a considerably amount of time to put the wig on even with practice and about three people helping her. Now she was on her own, this was going to take some effort.

The wig was a pale green colour, the exact shade of the bow on the tail, and the slightly wavy hair fell to about her mid-back when she put it on. It had the slightest shimmer as it swished in the bright lights of the dressing room and a soft hint of perfume that had been used to detangle it. Strange but effective method; now there wasn't a single tangle or knot in the hair. Sighing she did up her natural hair under a little black hairnet, she rather liked her natural hair, cool as the wig was. Scooping up the wig she quickly flicked it on with surprising speed – even surprising herself that it managed to stay on in the right place. A few bobby pins later it was secure and with a carnivorous smile she played with her new hair getting used to the feeling that came with it. Further along the counter there was a pair of soft black cat's ears, programmed with a similar mechanism to the tail to twitch like real cat's ears when put on. They slid easily into specific parts in the wig, as the wig had been created for the ears not vice versa.

Finally, the hardest part of her costume had arrived and she automatically sighed once more. If you were to walk in and watch her sigh, it would seem as if for nothing because it didn't look like there was anything else left on the counter. But if you looked closely in a little clear box on the corner, almost out of sight lay a pair of red contact lenses; what she dreaded most about this whole ordeal. Nimbly she plucked them both from the box and, drawing in a deep breath for courage, applied the both as quickly as she could to get it over and done with. Blinking a few times to allow them to settle she turned to look into the mirror and smirked wickedly at the result for the eyes that blinked back at her were yellow cat's eyes.

_I'm finally ready, now it's time to get on with the show…_

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Scene Change *Back to the viewing room*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After Tala's reminder of their given choice they'd said nothing more, instead clambering down into the audience to watch their video that didn't play for about ten minutes. Tala sent Ian to investigate confused, 'it worked this morning' – in truth this was all an act, they needed about a minute's more time until they heard the signal. Ian fixed the projector shivering; the room had dropped in temperature and no one inside could work out why. At least until Bryan spotted the open window that is, letting in some of the cold night's breeze. He went over and closed but Lee couldn't help but overhear Bryan muttering to himself as he walked past. "I could have sworn that was shut when we came in," Bryan shook his head and shrugged dismissively. "Oh well. Must've forgotten."

Lee was not so easily convinced; the window **had **been shut when they'd walked in but at some point it had been opened again to allow some of the musty air out…or to allow something else inside… _Lee, get a hold of yourself; it's probably nothing! They just needed some fresh air, that's all. _A small shiver ran down Lee's spine; he knew that wasn't the case but he needed to keep himself calm otherwise his team would catch on, and then it'd be a disaster. Lee felt Rei's uncertain gaze over his shoulder, he turned to face his old friend giving him a small inclination of the head knowing a smile was out of the question. A wave of dread hit him suddenly and his eyes flicked back to the now closed window and then to the door they'd come through he only now realised was locked up.

_If something __**did**__ come through that window…  
>We're trapped in here with it now.<br>There's no escape… _

Lee tried to remain calm, but his fear had long been picked up by his team all of whom had reached the same conclusion as him. They were trapped in a locked room possibly with a monster who would possibly be annoyed at them entering its sanctum._  
><em>

_What have those Blitzkriegs done?_

Yu's eyes flitted from one object to the next aimlessly, he was bored and the video hadn't started yet. His eyes seemed to be seeking out something entertaining, not quite realizing the situation the entire group seemed to be in. Everyone else was scared, but he didn't think this room was so bad, the couches were bouncy, the cushions were soft, it smelled like his grandma (whom he loved dearly) and it was a pretty room, even though it looked a little destroyed by an animal. A small movement out of the corner of his eye captured his focus and he immediately turned to face the thing only to be confronted a quick flick of a tail as whatever it was dashed back off into the shadows. Now he was intrigued, he clambered off the couch and cautiously stepped towards the shadows careful not to make any sudden movements. Yu loved animals so he was excited to see a tail in the room. Maybe it was a cute kitty! Maybe Gingy would let him bring it home with them and he could keep it! He could even name it Fluffy or Mr Whiskers! That'd be awesome. He approached slowly until he saw the creature finally look up and he was startled with what he saw. There in the darkness was a pair of glowing topaz cat's eyes, staring at him with a kind of strange amusement.

"Here kitty, kitty, kitty…" Lee flinched as he heard Yu speak from the other end of the room and his heart stopped as he realised Yu wasn't talking to him or his team. No, Yu seemed to be addressing a creature lurking in the shadows, all he could see of the creature were its haunting amber eyes. "Come here kitty, I won't hurt you…" Yu's soft voice seemed to echo around the room, and a couple of people regarded him with confusion but he continued closer to the creature; he'd even gotten on his knees on the borderline of the shadow. In the shadows the creature moved slowly towards him, careful not to expose itself in the swirling ribbons of moonlight that flittered through the dusty air thanks to the now shut window. Yu held out his hand for it to sniff and in the swaying shadows it was half shrouded in darkness. Now everyone in the room had taken an interest in Yu and his new 'friend' and they all waited to see what kind of creature, or how big a cat, was going to emerge from the shadow.

So when an elegant black-gloved hand tentatively reached out and slowly grasped Yu's hand, you could imagine the unparalleled fear that suddenly surged through the room. Only Yu seemed unafraid, he tried to coax whoever or whatever the creature was out of the darkness to no avail. Yu could just make out its head, which it slowly shook twice indicating its lack of desire to leave the darkness that so gratefully hid it. A silent panic rose through the room as very gracefully the creature leaned its head closer to Yu's hand, never breaking eye contact. Yu offered his hand and was startled that instead of sniffing (or eating as some of the more distraught members of the group feared) his hand it brought it to its lips, lightly pressing them against the baby soft skin of the back of his hand. After a moment Yu turned to his paralysed audience with his trademark bright smile.

"She's a girl."

Mystel, who was overwhelmed with fear beyond the point of all return, suddenly began to laugh at Yu's interesting proclamation. It was a loud, somewhat shrill sound that smothered the tense atmosphere. The female creature's eyes flicked to Mystel and before Yu could call her back she disappeared, fading back into the dimness that hid her. Everyone glared at Mystel; Yu had been about to draw the creature out a little further into the light but his annoying paranoid reaction had startled it away. Yu growled; such bitter rage sounded eerie coming from his voice. "Thanks a lot, Mystel. You scared the kitty-girl away!" Little tears pricked Yu's wide green eyes and his lower lip wobbled threateningly. Apart from loving animals Yu had a nasty tendency to throw horrible wailing tantrums when things didn't go his way. Right now Mystel was staring down the mother of all hissy-fits and boy did he know it.

"Relax kiddo, she'll be back. There aren't many places to hide in here, but then again she knows this place better than us…" It was Tala, who gave Yu a smirk as their video player almost kicked itself into gear (with a little bit of 'encouragement' from Ian). Yu relaxed at Tala's interjection, but he still glared viciously at Mystel before going to pout on the bouncy couch. Everyone returned to their seats, contemplating Tala's unusual choice of words as their black and white video started up sound and all.

A bright kind of waltz played as black cat paw-prints walked slowly across the screen, getting faster and faster as the waltz eventually tumbled into disarray. The footprints lead to none other than the mysterious cat creature revealed to be a girl, who Yu met earlier and as she meowed at the camera Yu's eyes widened and he sat up now taking an acute interest in the video. Spanish guitars played and the music became fast with a Latin feel as on screen a kind of moving montage focusing on the moon and streets. Words spelt out following paw prints that padded the screen '_A Blitzkrieg Production of a Hatsune Miku Song, Original by marashy' _then it was as if someone had set the screen alight as it burned away, revealing photos of the cat-girl from different angles in time with the quick moving melody.

The words 'Cat's Dance' lit the screen for a brief moment before the black-and-white video cut to a beautiful open room that had the same kind of feel as the one they were in, a feeling Aaron had been trying to place since they'd entered. _It wasn't destruction, it felt too homely for that… _As he watched the cat-girl sing 'meow' somewhat mournfully in time with the music as she danced around on her own in the ballroom he realised it was abandonment. His concentration returned to the video as he watched the girl dance and sing on her own, it looked like it was a dance supposed to be performed with a partner, but there no longer was a partner there for her so she continued to dance alone; the thought saddened Aaron slightly. Nobody should have to dance a two-person dance alone.

_The red tea on the table is left cooled__  
><span>The sunset of melancholy is excess time<span>__  
>How long you are going to leave me here for?<em>_  
><span>No, I don't want that<span>  
><em>

As she sang the verse the scene changed to a window ledge that the cat girl looked out longingly as she sang. Her eyes (the only colour in the shot) flicked back to the centre of that room where it was as if her memories were coming to life as a ghost version of herself and Spencer (playing a character in this story) appeared, speaking to one another. The focus shifted to the ghosts and as Spencer spoke, she sang the words as if she was remembering the way Spencer said them.

_How many times do I have to repeat myself?  
><em>_Not enough, as if I have to repeat it endlessly  
><em><span>I thought I told you I hate waiting?<span>  
><em><span>Whatever, let me punish you<span>___

Ghost-Spencer played with the cat-girl's hair, as he did so the focus shifted to the real cat-girl who fiddled with the same strand of hair before leaving her current perch and strolling around the Ghost-Spencer as he continued to speak to the ghost-cat-girl. The living cat girl came to a stop behind where her former self stood, singing more of Spencer's words in perfect time with Spencer's lips – it almost made it seem like he was talking.

_Don't look at me with those eyes__  
><span>I always give you a reward don't I?<span>__  
>If you understand give me a kiss right now<em>_  
><span>You'll understand if you don't want to be an abandoned cat right? Good kitty<span>  
><em>

Lovingly the cat-girl, who seemed slightly dwarfed by Spencer, leaned up and gave him a kiss as he commanded. Tapping her nose lightly a kind of bittersweet smile crossed his face as he spoke of abandonment – a concept that did not please the cat girl as she reached out clutching on to him. He caressed her again as he 'said' "Good kitty" and then the scene returned to the open room from the beginning, now inhabited by ghosts that danced with her.

_Sing and dance, Amore mio, wag your tail, _As she sang this, footage of her tail (and consequently her ass) swinging played; Ian had definitely loved getting that shot.  
><em><span>If you want to be embraced by this graceful flower<span>  
><em><span>Stronger, Amore mio, ring your bell, <span>__This time it was footage of the cat's bell around her neck that you could almost hear softly chiming in the distance.__  
><em><span>Now dance<span>___

Her meow-song returned as she danced around, this time with Ghost-Tala (who was playing another character). The Blitzkriegs, though they hated to admit it, actually rather enjoyed acting for their music videos so this one that featured most of them at some point had been a blast for them. Only Ian was not featured, someone had to film them, but he didn't mind as he was a terrible actor.

_You're fine as long as you're comfortable right  
><em>_Like a sleeping cat rolling on its back  
><em>_The bottle went empty some time ago  
><em>_Refill it quickly_

The scene transformed this time to the cat's bed, where she slept adorably as Bryan (the last of the acting Blitzkriegs) played with her hair. He wandered around her and time fast forwarded till she woke once more, the shot focusing on her wide amber eyes.

_Stop acting cold towards me and teasing me__  
><span>If you were in my position it wouldn't work<span>__  
>If you understand then hug me right now<em>_  
><span>You understand that tonight shall be drunk with love right? Good kitty<span>  
><em>

Hands reached out to grab the cat, shrouded in darkness it seemed like there were dozens of people. Her head turned to the side dejected, she knew what was coming and didn't even try to escape it anymore. As she was tugged into the blackness Bryan reappeared with a malicious smirk on his face almost saying "Good kitty". It cut to black and then the open room once more as if someone had opened curtains.

_Sing and dance, Amore mio, wag your tail, _(More ass footage now, Ian absolutely love this video)  
><em><span>If you want to be my Prince charming<span>  
><em><span>More painfully, Amore mio, shout your throat dry<span>  
><em><span>Now spoil me<span>___

Nobody could deny that the chorus had a more sinister feel to it this time around; she kept changing partners from the ghost Bryan to Tala to Spencer without ever missing a beat but it looked as if she were trying to escape them only to wind up in the grasp of another. The ghosts, since they were just that ghosts, would almost appear out of thin air, vanishing when they weren't needed making her escape impossible.

_You haven't cried since yesterday  
><em>_Will I be all alone tomorrow again?  
><em>_So let me hear your cries  
><em>_I'm not lonely... although it's a lie..._

As she sang the bridge it was her and Tala, and the shot alternated with the lines, Tala's were about crying; hers about loneliness, as they almost spoke to one another until she said it was a lie that she wasn't lonely. The shot made it seem like she was falling, the cat's bell around her neck choking her till the screen cut to black. A Spanish guitar interlude played as black and white pictures lit up the screen in an old movie – the cat girl being adopted, watching Tala dance with someone else and one of her being cared for. But, in between these pictures there would be motion shots of two people dancing (Tala and the woman from the picture) and all you could see were their feet moving in time with the music. Each time there was a fast set of claps the picture would flash between the woman's dainty shoes and the edge of her dress and the cat-girl's matt black heels – the cat girl was picturing herself being the one dancing with Tala. The woman and Tala leaned in closer to make it appear like they were about to kiss, alternating between the woman and the cat-girl.

_It seems I've fallen into a dream some time ago, _It was a shot of the cat girl sleeping again – she looked so peaceful and relaxed._  
><span>Being looked at gently by those amber eye<span>s _The perspective suddenly changed, revealing Tala as the one asleep and the cat-girl watching him, her eyes bright in the moonlight. _  
><span>Thinking about it, you were the only one that was always here for me<span>, _Tala awoke (real Tala, not a ghost), reaching out and playing with a strand of her hair causing her to lean closer to him. _  
><span>Giving the empty me love and warmth, good kitty<span>_ He sat up gently and cuddled her, whispering 'good kitty' in time with the song.

_Sing and dance, Amore mio, wag your tail  
><em>_If you want to be embraced by this graceful flower  
><em><span>Stronger, Amore mio, ring your bell<span>  
><em><span>Now dance<span>___

This chorus felt happier than the last two, and the girl's dress had changed from a torn destroyed rag to a cute flowing white nightie like dress done up at her waist with a pale green ribbon. The Blitzkriegs appeared glad as they danced and she seemed far more inclined to dance with these Blitzkriegs (who were all solid) than the ghosts from earlier.

_Tonight we dance, dance the cat's dance__  
>We shall step lightly and with dignity<em>_  
>You're really bad at dancing you know<em>_  
>But even that part of you is cute<em>

She twirled round, lightly bounding past them with a grace none of them could match, something she made a point of in the song, but smiled hugging them all close to her on the last line of the song. As they danced to her meow once more the house seemed restored behind them; something that made the audience smile – the Blitzkriegs weren't ones for happy endings but this song definitely seemed worth it. On that last meow before blackout the shot, and all eyes, focused on the cat girl as she smiled cheekily giving a wink as she meowed.

It took a few moments for it to sink in that the video had finished, once it did though everyone was on their feet applauding. As the screen began to rise up to reveal the stage, the same cute piano riff from the start of the song played all over again and as it tumbled to disarray once more the spotlight shone on centre stage where, in all her gothic yet slightly sexy glory the cat-girl stood turning to the audience and with the faintest hint of a smirk on her face she let off one more famous meow.

"Meow!"

**AND THAT'S THE END OF PRINCESS! Oh MY GOD THAT TOOK FOREVER! :D :D So, now it's time to watch it live? Don't worry, it won't have the worded translation again, that'd be too long!**

**There doesn't seem to be any Russian in here so there's no need for a glossary! **

**In case it didn't make sense, the song was Cat's Dance by Hatsune Miku, and I recommend watching the actual music video – this one was inspired by that one, especially the outfit!**

**Please READ AND REVIEW! :D :D :D :D **


	12. Kitten

**12. Kitten**

**Wow, it's been a while! Sorry about that readers! But here's the latest chapter of Little Russian Doll! :D Now, for those of you who remember that far back – back in Waitress (chappie 1) in fact, I mentioned why Kai didn't want to be there. NOW THIS CHAPTER I SHALL EXPLAIN WHY! *evil laugh* **

**Miguel: *sweatdrops* Oh wow… maybe the long break from writing this story wasn't such a good idea… **

**Rose: *chuckles* Hehe, sorry! This chapter will be interesting, I tell you that! :D (Or I hope…) *sombre face* I have some serious news regarding my other story – A Little Orange Dress… But that's for another time! Miguel, disclaimer! *snaps fingers* **

**Miguel: *sighs* MisstiqueRose owns naught but her OC and this plot line.**

**Rose: *beams* Loving the language!**

**Now, on with the story :D :D :D :D **

"Speaking"

_Thinking (and or song lyrics, just check the context)_

"_Speaking in Russian (or another language)" – written in English_

"_**Phonetic Russian/Chinese pinyin (will be translated at the bottom)"**_

_The routine is well choreographed, _thought Hiro to himself watching the Blitzkriegs take turns dancing with the cat-girl (whose identity he still hadn't quite latched on to, he's TYSON'S brother after all) _and they all seem to actually be having _fun… A smile crossed his face. This was the first time in a live performance that the word 'fun' came to mind with these boys. Usually it was more like 'psychopathic', 'tormented', 'frightening', 'disturbing' and the list goes on.

But this time was different – and different was usually some kind of trap with these boys so he went into full analysis mode. He noticed that the moves weren't all that complex or straining – for the benefit of their songstress more than anything. It didn't take away from the routine, which maintained the same light cheekiness in such a dark atmosphere (something he still had yet to completely suss out). She sang well; not perfectly, not terribly (definitely better than Ming Ming but that wasn't necessarily a hard achievement). What startled Hiro was that for how little breath she was drawing in (or at least, how little it appeared to be) she was still holding many of the notes well. That required at least _some_ kind of training, prompting him to believe they'd hired an outside actor… _I might need to look into this deeper..._

Her movements were most fluid when she danced with Tala, not surprising. Tala was an excellent dancer, a fact that had startled everyone in one team challenge requiring formal dancing – they'd expected Tala to bitch and whine but instead he just gracefully glided across the floor without hesitation. He seemed to possess a kind of eerie grace in everything he did; he was the only person Hiro had ever seen that could make being thrown through a wall look graceful…

Or at least not painful.

A slight chuckle escaped Mr Dickinson, and without turning his head Hiro eyed him cautiously. The old man always seemed to be in good spirits, something that disconcerted Hiro. How can anybody be THAT cheery all the time, unless they're Max? Even Max has breaking points… "Hiro, stop trying to dissect the performance minute by minute – that's what the cameras are for. Just relax and enjoy it, I mean, they are." The soft whisper of Mr Dickinson ruptured Hiro's deep focus and due to his currently high-strung state (just because the Blitzkriegs were performing and in sight doesn't mean they weren't up to mischief) he almost yelled out in surprise.

Thankfully for him, any sound he made was blocked out by the cat-girl's meow-song, which something in the back of his mind registered as faintly familiar. _Disaster averted, that would have been embarrassing! _Sighing to himself he smiled a little and just quietly began to relax, allowing the rhythm of the music to wash over him. Frankly it surprised Mr Dickinson; not once in his presence had Hiro ever relaxed, not even on their all-expenses-paid spa day. Then again, that turned out to be a disaster so Hiro was right to be on alert…

So lost in his reminiscing about a day gone wrong Mr Dickinson almost missed the end of the show, but he clapped ecstatically to make up for it. After some quick bows Tala's eyes focused on the All Starz who looked more dazed than Benkei in an astrophysics class. Clearly they did not see that one coming! The grin on his face practically screamed "take THAT bitches!" – as did Ian, literally. A few more derogatory put downs to the All Starz later, give or take a quick Russian squabble over whose turn it was to speak, Tala was in possession of the microphone once more. The atmosphere in the room lightened as Mr Dickinson and Hiro were escorted out to deliberate the score (and or any cheating that may or may not have come into play) by a pissed off Ian who wanted to rub victory in the All Starz faces.

"Well," Tala began in an almost cheery manner. "Now that the hard part's over, I believe it's time for a little bit of lighter entertainment…" He stressed the last two words with a sinister smirk and stared straight at Kai, who by now had nearly sunk so deep into his chair one would think he'd fall through it. Hilary couldn't help but feel sorry for him; this was the second time this week he was going to be picked on by his team via video bloopers… Her ruby eyes flicked to the Blitzkriegs and seeing the absolute vicious leers on all their faces her heart sunk; she knew this was NOT going to end well. As she sighed out loud, praying for whatever punch up that would follow this video to be quick, she was startled to see the cat-girl staring at her from the edge of the stage. Both her legs hung over lazily and she seemed more relaxed now, regarding the whole audience with that curious contentment cats are famous for. Something about it seemed familiar though…

As Hilary sat there deep in focus trying to work out why she felt déjà vu regarding the feminine feline she was stunned by amber eyes that seemed to stare right through your soul boring into her amused (most of that phrase sounded awfully familiar to her considering the brief period she'd spent dating Kai – the result had been less than positive). Neither female's eyes left the other in a strange kind of staring contest, a ghost of a smile crossing the cat-girl's face as seconds passed. A sharp click from the projector caught Hilary's attention and that of the cat-girl too. Noticing Tala was jumping down from the stage to go sit on a couch the cat-girl quickly followed, giving Hilary the slimmest smile as she did so before curling up next to Spencer who'd already sat down.

Over the loudspeaker Tala's voice echoed in a kind of mockumentary-David-Attenborough style as footage of Kai from the Breaker's video (the less than flattering footage of course; him cuddling cats, singing in the shower and so on) rolled onto the screen. "Kai Hitawari, more commonly known for his bad temperament and general bad-boy attitude has been proven to have a softer side and some pretty unusual habits..." By now not only was Kai attempting to sink into the chair but he was also trying to hide himself as best he could. "But now, rather than go through those ourselves we've got a very special guest to do it for us!" Kai's eyes widened with an unrepeatable string of curses pouring from his lips under his breath, _he wouldn't dare… _He met Tala's mocking gaze and swore again. _Of course he would... _

_Bastard. _

The shot changed to Tala taking a film of himself by holding the camera out to face him, and he was walking throughout the Blitzkrieg house. He was using the camera's display screen like a mirror, making sure to avoid all obstacles coming his way but he didn't notice the curious gaze around the corner. "Now, we're about to go into some of the strange habits of the infamous Kai Hitaw-"

"Hey Tala, what'cha doing?" The camera turned to face Charlotte who beamed skipping over to Tala. Unlike when she wore to the performance, she wore just a pair of faded sky blue jeans, a white singlet with an artistic paint pattern designed to look like flowers underneath a patterned blue, green and pink flannelette style shirt – she looked a lot more relaxed there than tottering around in her small black heels. Tala smiled (surprisingly genuine as well) and tugged into the shot so both their faces were crushed together and he was hugging her. Admittedly it was one of the few times Tala actually seemed happy, and looked adorable as he did so.

"Oh right, ladies and gents, this is Charlotte!" He beamed and kissed her temple, making her smile brightly. It was strange for the entire audience (bar Julia who'd grown accustomed to seeing him smile) to see Tala so full of joy. "Say hello to the people Charlotte!"  
>"Greetings whoever Tala decides to show this video too!" Chirpily she beamed at the camera, slightly off-put by her lack of knowledge of the audience.<br>"She's been our friend for…" Pausing he turned to her confused. "How long now?" They both seemed to be trying to count back through the dates to no avail until Spencer yelled out from the kitchen.

"It's been three months, two weeks, four days and twenty one hours since I brought her home!" Both Tala and Charlotte looked over in the direction of the kitchen, bemused but not willing to contradict such an exact number. Bryan called out from the weights room something that sounded like 'god you're such a creeper Spence' in between grunts indicating he was bench pressing about sixty kilos. Usually when he wanted to bench press something heavier than that he would get a thirty kilo slab of wood and put Charlotte on top of it, sometimes he even put Tala on there too. Tala shrugged and smiled, his focus returning to the camera.

"Right, so in this time she's also met Kai, haven't you Charlie?" An enthusiastic nod followed, she'd definitely met Kai. "So, what do you think of him? Go on, tell the people." From his chair in the viewing room Kai had finally stopped swearing, sinking, hiding and just generally sulking to look up at the screen. Charlotte's eyes flicked from Tala to the camera and back, and when she spoke again it was more serious.

"How honest are we talking here? Like 'polite because I don't want to be mean' honest or 'down to the truth God almighty' honest? I mean, is he going to watch this?" She sounded slightly nervous as if it'd just clicked that the video's phantom audience might actually contain Kai. Tala smirked and it was as if balance had returned to the universe.

"Everything you got. Trust me, by the time we put this on he'll have snuck out and gone to hide somewhere." She looked a little saddened by that, but nodded none the less. As she opened her mouth to speak an ungodly yell erupted from the next room, startling her into Tala's affectionate embrace. A few seconds later Ian burst through the door cackling hysterically, gripping a bottle of what looked like hair dye (but could've been filled with some hideous poison knowing Ian) and running for dear life, but before anyone could ask a purple-soaked Bryan crashed through the door, dripping the mysterious purple substance all onto the floor - Spencer would not be pleased. Growling like a beast Bryan spoke, three barely audible but incredibly sinister sounding words.

"Where. Is. He?" Charlotte's arm shot out like lightning from Tala's cuddle, pointing out another door in the direction of the accused (and frankly doomed) Shrimp; a polite 'thank you' later and Bryan roared off chasing the little pest. Tala recovered slightly better than Charlotte, who was still attempting to restart her petrified heart. He looked off towards where the murderer and the soon-to-be-murdered had headed with a slight hint of worry on his face, Bryan had never appeared THAT mad before…  
>"Tala, why don't you go check on them, and I'll just tell the camera about Kai. You're going to watch it anyway, aren't you?" An almost sinister smile crossed Tala's face as she spoke, but soon returned to his gentle cheery one.<br>"Sure dear," he gave her a quick camera tutorial before skipping (yes, you read correctly, skipping; he is that badass) out the door, but not before turning back and giving her one more smile. "Leave nothing out, you got it?"

Charlotte watched him skip out with some amusement, turning back to the camera with a confused smile. "Uh…well…Hi there! Um…so I guess I should tell you what I think of Kai…" She bit her lip seeming deep in thought. "But I have a nasty feeling whatever I say's going to come back and bite me in the ass." An evil smirk crossed her face. "So let's get started, shall we? There's no time like the present!" Giving the camera a lopsided grin she shrugged. "Besides, it's better you hear it from me, rather than Tala going through and twisting all my words around."

Plonking herself down on the back of the couch, and then simply falling backwards without hesitation she beamed at the camera, now upside down with her legs flicked over the back edge of the couch and hair streaming out behind her. "So, everyone apparently thinks Kai has no sense of humour, and that's he's always boring, gloomy, and generally an asshole." She paused as if contemplating this, waving her finger in the air unsure. "Well, I can tell you now the first two aren't true, but I don't know about the asshole bit – he can be a bit of a dick sometimes." A slight snigger erupted throughout the audience and Kai blushed profusely; sure he wasn't always _ridiculously_ pleasant, but he'd never been horrible to her, had he? "I mean, he's always nice to me but I swear he nearly kicked Ian out of the park when he made some joke yesterday. Admittedly, judging by Spencer's reaction I can't say he didn't deserve it…" She shrugged and grinned, "Anyway, you see Kai's not always grouchy – in fact he can be a lot of fun! Yesterday…"

_*Flashback* Yesterday _

Kai threw himself onto the chair, head lolling back lazily. With rehearsal finished (in both teams) he sighed – there was little left to do but chores, and to be frank he couldn't be bothered folding laundry or doing other manual labour. His two toned hair fell in front of his face and he let off a loud, aggravated sigh kicking up his heels. "I'm. So. Boooored…" It came out as a whine, that of a spoilt child. He motioned to Tala, who'd just walked in, the way a king would motion to a servant or jester. "Entertain me." For that, he got a lightsaber to the face and a snarl – Tala was picking up all of his stuff and was mid-way through dropping it off at his room; he was actually DOING his chores unlike some people...

Behind Tala skipped Charlotte, holding the second armful of things that had been lying around the house, and she couldn't help but burst out laughing at the scene. Kai had a mark on his face and Tala was glaring like Kai had killed someone – yet it all seemed so hilarious. A vein seemed to throb on Kai's forehead and he rose up menacingly, lightsaber in hand. "You're so dead Ivanov!" He rushed at him with the lightsaber, and with the speed of a swordsman slashed down with a precise blow that should have whacked Tala in the face – but there was something in the way. It was Charlotte, holding Ian's lightsaber, who blocked him before parrying him off evenly. _Goddamn her reflexes! Wait, since when does she have reflexes?_ Tala's smirk increased at this reminding Kai of Lau from Black Butler (with Charlotte as Ran Mao defending him – yes Kai enjoyed watching Black Butler, he totally wanted a demon butler to do his bidding) and with the same irritating vagueness he pointed to Kai.

"Be a dear and kill him for me." Charlotte smiled a little and nodded, getting into a battle stance.  
>"As you wish."<p>

An epic lightsaber battle ensued between Kai and Charlotte encompassing all the furniture and objects within the house essentially (for example Kai threw a vase, Charlotte jumped on the couch to dodge and threw a pillow in retaliation which Kai then hit for six into a painting and so on). Spencer, from the kitchen, smiled a little before putting on Cello Wars by the Piano Guys as ambient background music to the battle. He lived with three (occasionally four) psychopathic Russians, fights weren't uncommon around here. For their part Kai and Charlotte fought along to the music, exchanging blows in perfect time with the sound effects and during Darth Vader's 'cantina' accordion solo their fight turned into a little jig with Ian playing Darth Vader, whom they both blasted back with the 'force' (of Bryan shoving him halfway across the room). The victory portion of the song they actually _did _dance together in a kind of ballroom inspired style mix which was actually rather sweet ("God you're good Hitawari,"  
>"Of course I am, how great of you to recognize it…"<br>"But I'm better!") On that note both fighters picked up their lightsabers and charged right into the swing of battle again.

Rather dramatically at the end the two of them ran up and jumped up for a final strike, but neither of them followed through. Instead they both collapsed laughing (oh yeah, Kai _laughed)_ for a little while enjoying the moment. Charlotte poked Kai in the ribs with her lightsaber and smiled. "So you _can_ laugh! Everyone thinks you can't, but I knew it wasn't true!" Kai poked her back, pouting.  
>"I never said I <em>couldn't<em>, just that I didn't want to."  
>"God, you're hopeless Hitawari," She laughed poking him once more, he poked back, she poked him; thus causing a quick poke war, stopping only because Kai poked Charlotte a little too forcefully and she doubled over.<p>

"Shit, are you okay?!"  
>"I'm…fine…just goddamnit not so hard next time!"<br>"…I'm sorry…" A mumbled apology poured from the lips of Kai before he had time to think about it. This was where Tala, who'd videoed the whole thing, nearly fell over in shock. Did Kai Hitawari, Mr 'I'm-perfect-and-I-know-it/Nothing-is-my-fault-because-I-am-amazing', just apologize? She smiled warmly, a hint of cheekiness in her eyes.  
>"So not only can you laugh, but you can apologize too? Wow, you're just full of surprises today aren't you?" He glared playfully, a smile playing on his lips.<br>"Shut up…" He sniffed the air. "I think Spencer's all done with the cake, you wanna go get some?"  
>"Sure. There's nothing quite like cake after an epic battle."<p>

_*Back to the video*_

She smiled at the camera having recounted her tale. "Kai's actually a lot of fun…" Charlotte paused deep in thought, "When the bastard's not trying to scare the crap out of me!" Everyone in the audience looked at Kai, who was still trying to get over the fact she'd picked THAT story to tell. She continued on, obviously unable to see the audience's reaction. "He ALWAYS tries to scare me, and then plays the whole 'macho-hero-I-ain't-scared-of-shit' card so I look like a wuss! Then he spends the next twenty minutes mocking and or patronizing the shit out of me until I snap – and then he patronizes me MORE! It's so frustrating!" She pouted angry, but not for long before she was grinning rather wickedly. "So I found a way to get him back, and I figure since I have a camera, let's film it! Here's hoping he screams!"

She flicked herself up and grinned, walking over to the house computer situated in a cosy little alcove towards the boy's rooms. "Now, I just gotta look something up… then I'm going to go get Kai!" Typing swiftly on the computer she selected a video from Youtube (after having to scroll past about four whilst muttering 'no' repeatedly until she found the right one) entitled Sweet Shackles by Gumi Megpoid and grinned; pausing it before it began. "This is gunna be fun!" She giggled gathering up the camera before skipping down to the weights room, where she knew she could find him. Lo and behold, there he was in all his shirtless (slightly sweaty) glory with his earphones in his ears. Charlotte took an opportunity to film him pumping weights and humming along to Never Too Late by Three Days Grace, her reasoning being "Well, you don't see THAT everyday… NO I'm not perving on him; it's just a rare occurrence!" (With the profuse blushing that comes with denial, of course). After a few moments she was able to emotionally steel herself enough to enter.

"Hey Kai, I've got something to show you! Come on!" Kai did not look up, or even respond, so caught up in his music that he couldn't hear her. After yelling a couple of times only to discover he'd turned it up to blasting-eardrums-out loud Charlotte walked over, removed one of his earphones and tried again. "HITAWARI! I'VE GOT SOMETHING TO SHOW YOU! NOW START LISTENING TO ME DAMMIT!" His response, a low guttural snarl and latching on to her wrist with an iron grip. With unbelievable speed he yanked her down sharply so they were barely millimetres apart and yelled right back in her face.  
>"FOR FUCK'S SAKE TALA I'M NOT DEAF I CAN…hear…you…" He almost stopped cold when he realized who he was yelling at. Instead of Tala's amused ice-blue gaze he had a pair of jade eyes, watering slightly from the stinging wrist he'd just caused; stare back at him with amazement.<p>

_Shit. _

He released the stress on her wrist almost instantly but he didn't actually let go, instead turning over the delicate structure slowly to inspect for any damage. _Damage you caused, you unobservant prick! She's probably gunna hate you now! _A sigh escaped his lips and he didn't meet her gaze, he couldn't. Something swelled in Hitawari's chest that he hadn't felt in a long time…Guilt. Drawing upon all his reserves of inner willpower he looked up at her – which nearly crushed all his willpower because looking at the shock in those eyes made him feel like a scumbag – and in the tiniest voice murmured out something he, up until very recently, never said at all. "I'm sorry," Her eyes widened for a moment but surprise was soon replaced with warmth as she beamed at him.  
>"It's okay. I can't believe you think I sound like Tala." He laughed a little, caressing her wrist unconsciously.<br>"No, it's just that's what Tala does when he wants to talk to me. I didn't hurt you, did I?" She shook her head, still not taking her wrist out of his grip, in fact using that to pull him up.  
>"Nothing I can't handle – now come with me! I came here to show you something!" Without hesitation he followed her, though he couldn't explain why he felt as if he owed her that much for unintentionally attempting to dislocate her shoulder. She sat down in front of the computer and a Vocaloid song was open so he shrugged and grabbed a chair. She showed him stuff like this all the time so he wasn't at all fazed by the request.<p>

The song played, starting off sweet (and admittedly like something you'd find accompanying a horror movie) before turning into a kind of spooky-rock. _Not bad, _he thought to himself. The music video was alright, it was grey before breaking into flames and the title "Sweet Shackles" with the spooky-rock. As Gumi began to sing, it dropped back to the eerie creepiness, scrolling up a picture of Gumi herself and a chandelier once Gumi was done (there was a cute laugh in between). Kai could feel the song building up to the chorus but what he couldn't see was Charlotte's ever-so-subtle placement of the camera in her hands, filming right up at him. The first minute of the song passed without any hitches, which was alright. The fun hadn't even started yet…

What sounded like the chorus began to play, and Kai was completely relaxed. This was pretty tame by his standards. By about the two minute mark everything seemed rosy – the background was designed to look like moving fire in time with the instrumental and Kai was soothed by this somewhat. Gumi began to sing again, and it scrolled up a close up of her face…

In a sudden flash, Gumi's face turned a reddish hue, her eyes suddenly widening crazily and she began to beam like a deranged monster. The music reflected this change with a shrill noise not dissimilar to that of a metallic shriek. Kai, who'd been leaning on the table rather relaxed and just sort of absently watching the video, jumped backwards in horror with a manly yelp; managing to fall off the chair at the sight and sound. Charlotte nearly fell off her own chair, she was laughing to the point where no sound was coming out at all. After a couple of moments she looked down at an indignant Kai, sprawled on the floor blushing faintly and eyes filled with accusation, and burst out laughing all over again.

"I did it! I finally managed to scare you! Take THAT bastard!" Kai attempted to snarl something back but was unable to form words. How could something as meagre as that scare him?! The great Kai Hitawari! She was doubled over laughing, appearing to almost run out of usable oxygen considering the way she was gulping in air. The funniest thing for her was she'd caught the entire reaction on video! She now had the privilege of being able to watch him freak out over and over again (and to a lesser extent watch him pump some weights…). The video paused and Tala's voice played over the speaker.  
>"Well, ladies and gentlemen, I think that's more than enough of a rare insight, don't you agree?" God he sounded sinister…<p>

The atmosphere was all creepy-like, and then Tyson had to go and ruin it. "HA! Kai, she scared the pants off you! I can't believe you actually got scared!" Ian laughed heartily as well.  
>"I can't believe you didn't notice the camera! She was so obvious!" Everyone was laughing and Kai looked prepared to commit second degree murder. His fists were balled by his sides and he snarled viciously to himself all the foul things he was going to do to Tala once this was over…<br>"Tala, what about the rest of that video? There's a lot more _fun_ right after this…" It was the cat girl, but her voice sounded incredibly familiar… in fact it sounded exactly like a very smug…

"CHARLOTTE?!" Everyone else, most of whom worked it out on their own, stared at the few stragglers who hadn't like they were idiots. Tala suddenly went incredibly quiet, as did the rest of the Blitzkriegs. "Huh? The video's starting again?" Without their knowledge the video had continued playing from a different angle, it was a camera (Ian designed that was actually pretty cool, it hovered and everything) following a chatty Charlotte and stoic-as-per-usual Kai as they casually walked into the practice room; obviously Kai had forgiven her for the startle (it was a couple of hours later obviously). Like a gentleman Kai threw open the door and would have shut it upon looking at what was inside but was too startled to do so. A thumping, familiar beat greeted them but that was nothing compared to the sight that accompanied it.

Ladies and gentlemen, I will now set the scene for what untold horrors met them when they opened that soundproof door…  
>Ian. In nothing but his underwear (and let's just put it this way, he DOESN'T wear boxers…).<br>Singing along and pelvic thrusting (in nothing but his underwear) to 'Sexy Back' by Justin Timberlake. This in itself would have been mentally scarring, but this was not the end of it. Oh no, because it wasn't just Ian. Tala, Bryan and Spencer (EVEN SPENCER) were all following suit, singing different parts of the song and all pelvic thrusting. In nothing but their underwear. I cannot stress that to you enough. **THEIR UNDERWEAR. ****UNDERWEAR!**

Charlotte and Kai looked slowly at one another, exchanging equally horrified looks, neither quite aware their friends got up to thisin their spare time! As the song finished (and another started – TV Rock's 'Flaunt It') they began to back out of the room, just in time to watch Tala strip off his last remaining garment. That was the last straw, and Kai slammed the door shut before turning to Charlotte still in shock. An awkward silence descended.

"Hey, do you want to come watch My Little Pony with me?"  
>"My Little Pony?" Kai – the great and powerful show-no-fear Kai – was offering to watch My Little Pony? Obviously Charlotte was confused.<br>"Ian's a hardcore brony; we have both seasons on DVD. Do you want to watch them with me? I think my brain could use the numbing time." Kai explained, shivering slightly. Charlotte simply nodded in complete silence, that was good enough logic for her, before taking his hand and slowly wandering down the stairs.

The same awkward silence from the film descended within the room as the screen finally cut to black; no one was quite sure how to react to such…startling footage. How does one react properly in such a situation? Nobody quite knew, and so there simply was silence. It was consuming, such silence; every breath swallowed in the nothingness. So then, the rattling of the door handle to signify that Hiro and Mr Dickinson wanted to be let in was a bit of a shock to everyone.

The looks of haunted horror that greeted them sent shivers down Hiro's spine. Charlotte, who like Kai was affected very little by the footage (having seen it firsthand does that to you) turned to face them with a smile. "So, what did you give the performance?" Well that certainly stumped Hiro – because of where he'd been sitting he hadn't been able to see that it was Charlotte dancing and thus was completely floored by such knowledge. Mr Dickinson looked just as startled and with a sweaty brow (which he once again wiped with his handkerchief) uttered the words the Blitzkriegs had both feared and hoped for at the same time.

"Boys, I hate to tell you this, but because Charlotte is not a member of your team, and is not registered as a guest, she is classed as 'outside assistance'. We were prepared to accept her as hired help for the dinner, but she performed unregistered with you. And this means," He sighed heavily, he had not wanted it to come to this. "That all contact with her shall be suspended for the rest of the competition as well as losing the majority of your points in accordance with our rules. I'm sorry boys, but that's what happens when you don't listen." All were solemn or horrified – most of them had really liked this girl and it was clear as day the Blitzkriegs adored her so to have them lose all contact for the next six months would be horrifying, especially if they had any residual rage left over for anyone else. Charlotte herself was petrified with a turmoil of emotions, a few stray tears dripping down her face; and then there was Tala. His head was down, his body shaking in uneven motions as if he were crying. Everyone thought that too…until he began to laugh.

"Oh you don't get it old man, do you?" He laughed again, a cold cruel sound, as did all the other Blitzkriegs.  
>"You think we didn't know? That we simply made a 'brash decision'?" As though it were the funniest thing in the world Ian cackled, almost boldly in the direction of the confused judges.<br>"We've broken no rules of yours. We're still in the clear."  
>"Charlotte <em>stays with us." <em>Bryan and Spencer added one after the other, Spencer's voice dropping to a serious snarl. A malicious smirk crossed his face as Tala swaggered right up to Mr Dickinson, looking every bit as imposing as his nickname, the 'Wolf'.  
>"<em><strong>, Chto yavlyayetsya okonchatelʹnym (1)" <strong>_

**Oh my GOD I FINALLY FINISHED IT! Explaining the rules is going to be one hell of a chapter next time – but I can't wait :D :D :D So how did we find this chapter (you're allowed to say all over the place because I've been so busy and it's terrible)? Now for the one bit of Russian: **

_**, Chto yavlyayetsya okonchatelʹnym – That is final **_

**Ooh spooky! So, how are the boys in the clear if they've gone and broken the rules? Let's read next time and find out :D :D :D **

**PLEASE READ AND REVIEW :D :D :D 'Specially if you're a Brony XD XD **


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